


Fractured

by PinkandRed (LucyRed), Sammykh



Series: Just Our Hell [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Chara Is Their Own Warning, Dehumanization, Lucy likes to make things complicated, Poor Sans, Sans torture, Skeleton abuse, Stuffing, chara is still evil, it's great, like to the max, lots of SOUL headcanons, sans is falling so low guys, soul torture, uhhhhhwhatelse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-07-27 07:17:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7608835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucyRed/pseuds/PinkandRed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammykh/pseuds/Sammykh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Giving up is a process, not an immediate choice. Chara knows this better than Sans, so of course they're there to guide him along.<br/>SOULs can only take so much. Sans knows this better than Chara - but of course he can't make them realize this before it's too late.</p><p>THE ABUSE CONTINUES C'MON IN Y'ALL.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nothing's Wrong I'm Just a Total Mess

“Sansy~ I’m hooome~”

Sans lifts his head, pupil shrinking in fear as he remembers the broken disc on the ground. Even if Chara removes the muzzle he has to take the blame - Flowey very strongly suggested that if he ratted the weed out, that Flowey would teach Chara SOUL torture, and...and that just...just really, really can’t happen.

Shutting his eyes, Sans curls up tighter and smaller in the corner of his room, hugging the extra layers of clothing around himself as he tries to brace himself for a punishment. It isn’t helping his anxiety, which is already crippling due to the consequences of Flowey torturing his SOUL, to know that pain is headed his way.

It takes them less than a minute to find the broken disc and for them to come storming up the stairs. They burst into the room, holding up the broken piece. “What the hell is this?”

Sans ducks back further, turning to look at them and giving a sob of relief. He gets up on trembling legs and stumbles over to them, falling on his knees and fighting back the desire to grab their arm to try and steal some physical comfort.

“Yeah you better be begging for mercy.” They kick him over, idly eyeing the broken disc. “This was my favorite one... but I am pretty sure you knew that hmm?”

Sans pushes himself back at, rubbing at his thickly covered sternum and giving a weak shrug. He coughs as he tries to breathe through the bit in his mouth.

They unhook the mouth of the gag. “Well? Any explanation as to why you did this?” They ask scoldingly.

 _‘it was Flowey it was that weed he broke in because you'd left me_ **_alone_ ** _why did you leave-’_

“p...p-panic attack...c..collateral d-damage…” Not a lie.

“Riiight, and it just so happened that it was the CD with your brothers death.” They say as they drop the CD and pull out their knife.

Sans shuts his eyes at the sight of it, as if that can make it go away, “l-last one we w-watched, s-so...i-it was l-lyin’ out..” Of course not like pointing out reason is going to make them happier.

They snort. “What kind of panic attack requires you to destroy shit?”

“....dunno..”

“And why are you wearing so many clothes? Is it cold or something?” They ask, checking the window. “Doesn't feel cold” They murmur.

Sans shrugs weakly, “makes...makes it, uh...softer, lying down…”

“Well, you look like an idiot.” The child says inspecting him. “Stand up.”

He's visibly shaking as he obeys, keeping his arms crossed in front of his chest still.

He notices they are looking at his ankle, and it’s confirmed when they ask him to step forward. Sans doesn’t even try to hide the limp.

“What happened to your ankle?”

“Flowey crushed it.” Sans answers honestly. Either they’ll assume he means from the incident earlier today or they’ll figure out he was here. But he can’t lie. Not really.

Chara's eyes narrow. “When was this?”

“today…” He answers vaguely.

“Was it really you who broke the disc?”

Sans looks up at them, “no.”

Chara sighs. “He came here while I was gone, didn’t he?”

Sans nods, “yeah.”

Shifting their jaw, Chara looks off to the side, repressing their anger so they can think. They need a plan to get rid of Flowey. But before they can work on that, they need a new save point. It’s been too long since they made one, and they know it’s more than likely that they’ll die several times over fighting their brother. They also don’t want to leave Sans alone this time - he has to be with them when they save, so they can prevent him from being killed.

Chara shakes their head in exasperation and thinks for a moment, checking his stats. “Here, eat this Astro Food I found in Waterfall.” They hand it to him.

Sans takes it, having to steady his breathing first. His H.P raises to 0.8/1.

Chara looks over him, assessing. “Try to walk on your leg, tell me if it still hurts too much to walk on.”

Sans nods, wincing as he stands up and moves forward a bit, “...i-i can m-manage, b-boss..”

Chara lowers their voice. “ _Do you think you can run on it?”_

Sans draws his arms in, thinking about it, “...a-anythin’ for you, b-boss..”

Chara takes his hand, and starts to run out of the room. They only slow slightly on the stairs to keep him from tripping, and are immediately back to sprinting once they fling open the front door and rush out into the cold. It doesn't take much before Sans starts panting. He's never been in good shape. At least he's lost some weight.

Somehow.

He tumbles down to the floor, getting back up as quickly as he can, “wh-what’re w-we doin’?”

They help him back up as quickly as they can, and enter the tunnel next to his house. “Nearest save point.” They say shortly, determined look on their face. “If he is still nearby, then any threat he can pose towards either of us...I have to save again. And you have to be with me, so he doesn’t take you.”

“...y-you’d...y-you’d do th-that f-for me, b-boss…?”

“Well, you know how much I hate to share.” They emerge from the tunnels and head towards the glowing yellow light in front of the shop. Just a few more feet-

“Howdy!”


	2. There Can Only Be One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently there is only one person in the Underground that Sans is allowed to be afraid of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam: Don't forget to check out the ask-blog @hellish-anomaly.tumblr.com

Sans spins around, backing away from the flower and hyperventilating immediately.  “Ch-Chara!” 

“Keep going!” They shout, pulling him along, but just before they reach the save point, Chara trips over one of Flowey’s roots. “Damnit!”

The flower laughs, pulling Chara away from the glowing light, “And you always told  _ me _ that I was the clumsy one, Chara!”

_ “No!” _ They were so close. Well, they better prepare for the long haul if Flowey decides to kill them. They try to kick their leg free. “Let go of me you  _ weed _ !”

“Oh relax, Chara! I'm not going to kill you  _ this  _ time. Though it would be fun to watch you try to scramble after your precious pet once you reload, to try and save him from me.” Flowey giggles, “Gee, what would you do if he scraped his knee, Chara? Kiss it better?” He mocks.

Chara narrows their eyes. “He is  _ nothing but a toy _ . I just don’t want you to take him before I am done having my fun. I have never been one to share  _ Azzy _ ~” They take out their knife and cut the vine holding onto their leg, then dash for the save point again, knowing it is probably in vain.

Flowey is all too happy to prove their hypothesis, snatching their ankle again and dragging them back, giving a mock offended gasp, “Chara! You know it’s rude to run away before a conversation is over!” The weed sticks out his tongue and winks, “ _ Anyway _ . I never said I was gonna take him away from you. I understand why you want him now! He’s a lot of fun, aren’tcha, puppy?” Flowey gives a tug on Sans’s collar. He quickly bats their hand away, backing up. The flower merely laughs. “I only took him to get your attention! You know how it goes with us, Chara! If I ever wasn’t paying attention to you, you’d take  _ my _ favorite stuff!” 

Chara cuts the vine around their ankle once more and stands up, knowing another dash for the save point would be a waste of effort. “Well, you have my attention, what do you want? And no, I won’t let you play with my toy anymore.” They say, crossing their arms.

“Why so protective?” Flowey pushes, grabbing Sans’s ankle and dragging him just a few feet and laughing at his panicked screaming before letting go. “You’d always let me at least play  _ with you _ , Chara. You’re being awfully selfish, even for you!” 

“Well, I don’t want to play right now.” They walk over to Sans and help him up. Their instincts screamed not to turn their back on the aggressor, but they found themselves disobeying.

Flowey immediately punishes them for making such a stupid mistake, whipping out a vine and hitting them harshly on the arm so that their knife is sent flying. This time when he speaks, Flowey sounds frustrated.  _ “Look  _ at yourself, Chara! Turning your back on the enemy? To  _ help some sad trash bag up _ ? Who  _ are _ you?!”

“Someone who is starting to get really pissed off!” They say, turning back to face Flowey, anger masking fear. They unconsciously hold their arm. “You should be careful, one hit to your stem from me would instantly kill you. My LV count is higher than ever!”

“Of course, Chara! Why do you think I’ve  _ been  _ so careful? I’m not an  _ idiot _ . I just wanted to give you an offer, is all!”

“An offer?”

“Mhm!” Flowey grabs Sans by the back of his collar and pulls him over to them, grinning at his fearful whimpering. They sit him down on a thicker vine and stroke his head gently, pulling him back whenever he tries to squirm away. “I know we’ve both had a lot of fun with your puppy here, but I think we’ve both been missing out! I never got to see what you did to make him such a sad sack, and I’ve been through so many RESETS, I can bring him down to 0.0001 HP without killing him! Plus…” Flowey gives a giggle, forcing Sans’s chin up to stare at him, “I bet he didn’t tell you about SOUL torture, did he?”

Sans freezes up, shoulders lifting, “you s-swore-”

“No I didn’t!” Flowey laughs, wrapping a vine around his mouth to shut him up before turning back to Chara, “We had a lot of fun with that while you were gone!” They start to slip one vine up his multiple shirts, pretending to go for his SOUL again but merely reveling in the absolute panic it throws him into. “He  _ won’t _ tell you, I bet. I mean, the name is pretty obvious, but technique is important, you know! I could really teach you a thing or two, Chara!” 

“What fun is there in knowing all the answers? I'm not interested in getting told all the secrets. I want to find them out for myself. Besides, you have just told me about the SOUL torture so my curiosity about that has been quenched.” Chara says smugly.

Flowey giggles, curling a thick vine around Sans’s waist, pinning his arms to his sides and holding him up, inspecting him casually as they keep talking, “Oh you can’t fool me, Chara. I  _ know _ you’re curious. You want to know what it does, don’tcha? It’s a great way to really keep him behaved, I can promise you that.” Flowey repeats Sans’s voice in perfect imitation, “ ‘no no no no i’m sorry you were right i’m weak and pathetic don't  _ do this _ -’ ...he went from challenging me to a blubbering  _ baby _ in two seconds! It was  _ hilarious _ !”

“But he has never been a pet for  _ you _ . And anyway, I can always try for myself. Now I suggest you put my toy back where you found him, before I get really angry. And the last time that happened, you were stomped into  _ dust _ .”

Rolling his eyes, Flowey tosses Sans back to the ground face-first, “ _ Fine _ , Chara. But you’ll change your mind! And when you do I’ll be waiting. This stupid comedian can’t go five minutes without screwing  _ something _ up. He’ll make you mad enough one of these days. Until then...well, enjoy catering to your pet,  _ softie _ .” And with that, Flowey disappears.

Charas fists clench. They are not used to being the smaller one, and they  _ hate it _ .  “Sans, get my knife.” They order as they head to the save point.

“y-you g-got it, b-boss..” Sans is trembling, rubbing at his skull to get rid of the ghost feeling of Flowey's vines crawling all over his head and face. That plant terrifies him so  _ much _ …

He picks up the knife, wiping his arm across his face and walking over to Chara with it. 

Chara feels their health replenish and exhaustion fade as their DETERMINATION settles. They take their knife from Sans, grab him by the wrist, and start walking quickly home, not liking the exposed feeling they get by being outside. 

Sans manages to keep up until they get back home, bending over his knees to catch his breath when they pause at the front porch,  “...f-for what i-it’s w-worth, b-boss...i d-don’t think y-you're soft…”

Their grip tightens, and they grit their teeth, but they don’t say a word. And amidst their frustration, there is something else niggling within them.

“.........b-boss..?”

“Did you call him that too?”  They snap as they enter the house, and slamming the door once Sans is inside.

Sans tenses at their tone,  “wh-what-?”

“Are you really so weak that you will grovel for just about anybody!?” 

He tries to shrink away, but his wrist is still caught in their ever tightening grip,  “i...uh..i..” What could he possibly have to say for himself? 

“You would gladly be anyone else's pet wouldn't you? Ungrateful, are you?!” They rant, anger beginning to spiral out of control.

Sans begins struggling to free his hand , “n-no, b-boss i...i-i'm y-yours...i-i'm your p-perfect l-little p-pet, r-remember?”  He asks in a shaking voice.

“You fear him more than you fear me! You wouldn't even tell me he was playing with you! I had to find out for myself! You are more afraid of him then me. Is that right?!”

“...y-you d-don’t kn-know wh-what h-he w-was d-doin’ to me, b-boss…” Sans whimpers.

“What he was-?! Y-..! W-..! ...you are  _ my  _ toy,  _ my  _ pet.  _ Why did you have to make him want you!? _ ” Chara throws Sans to the floor. “I guess I'm going to have to remind you who should  _ really _ be feared here.”

Sans's bones rattle as he pushes himself up off his face, staying on his elbows and fearfully looking over his shoulder at Chara. At least they can't do worse than what  _ he _ ...ugh. Sans shudders and pulls his back up jacket around him tighter, hiding his SOUL.

“What are you doing with your jacket? Did I tell you to hide from me? To shrink from me?!”

“n-no b-boss…”  Sans answers, avoiding the first question. Like the fact that he was wearing three shirts was just something not worth noticing.

“What's that he said about soul torture anyway?”  They begin to walk towards him. “I want you to explain it to me!”

Sans’s pupil shrinks, sockets nearly black from terror. He gives a sob, turning onto his back and trying to scoot away, “b-b-boss,  _ p-please... _ d-don’t m-make m-me…”

“And let him have all the fun? No, you are my toy. Explain it to me now!” They demand, rushing forward and gripping his wrist so that he can’t scoot away any further.

Sans is openly sobbing, terrified of what Chara will do,  “a-anything e-else...a-anything e-else,  _ p-please! _ ”

“So you would rather I reset and make you watch as I tear your brother to pieces?”

Sans shuts his eyes, lowering his head, “..please..”

“Last chance, Sans. I am  _ not  _ in a generous mood right now and you have been more than testing my patience! You will tell me  _ now _ , or I will RESET!”

“....” He watches the floor, feeling his SOUL try to retreat to the back of his ribcage as he says “o-okay...okay i...i-i’ll tell you..”

It’s more than just gut instinct that tells him he’s going to regret this…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> *fart noises*  
> bye


	3. Be Careful, Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans cooperates and then he doesn't. Chara becomes a little obsessed and jealous over Sans's fear of their brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, check out our ask blog at hellish-anomaly.tumblr.com -Sam

“Well?”

“...you already know about..a-about intentions, when..when fighting, obviously…” Sans takes in a deep breath, shifting so he’s sitting with his back against the couch. “any...any intent or strong feeling you have towards...t-towards whoever, it...i-it’s a-amplified by...by a  _ lot _ when y-you directly t-touch their S-SOUL.” Sans ghosts his fingers over his sternum, curling his hand into a fist and pressing his knuckles against his sweater, “...and...a-and they can  _ f-feel _ it...you...y-you have t-total control o-over their...th-their emotions..a-and then some…”

“Fascinating. Tell me more.”

“that’s...that’s all there is to it..”

“Bring it out then. I want to try.”

Sans curls up, crossing his arms protectively over his chest and starting to tremble, “y-you’ll fracture m-me…”

“Chill, my intentions won’t be to fracture you.”

Sans stares at them a second, and then gives a nervous chuckle, “h-heh..did...did y-you really just..tell me to ‘ch-chill’?”

The child squints at him. “So what if I did?”

“nothin’, it's just..k-kinda funny to hear you say..”

The child scoffs, crossing their arms.  “Well, whatever. Stop changing the subject.”

“...what...wh-what are y-you g-going to d-do to it?” Sans asks in a shaking voice, bracing his hand over his chest to summon out his SOUL.

“I want to see it.”

Swallowing, Sans slowly draws out his SOUL for them to see. The white heart is a greyish color, now, trying to hide from the malevolent presence in front of it. 

“Wow, I don’t think I have ever seen a living monster soul before.” They say, looking it over before tentatively taking hold of it.

Sans sucks in a breath, holding perfectly still and watching them with anxious eyes. What if they crush it? What if they throw him into such a deep depression he can never resurface? Can they make him give up…?

Chara can sense his anxiety through the SOUL, feeling it in their palms like a distant warmth of a bonfire. Not the actual burn of the flames, but some of the heat. 

They giggle slightly, turning it over in their hand, then poking it.

He flinches and gives a faint grunt, breath picking up for a second and then reluctantly steadying. So far their intentions are just curious...it doesn’t hurt. Though he feels a lot like a bug under glass.

“Did that hurt?” They ask, poking it again.

He squirms a bit, scraping his nails against the floor, “...just kinda...uncomfortable..”

They scratch their nail down the middle of it,  then they inspect their fingernail to see if anything came off.

_ “ah _ ..gf..c-careful, please…”

“It hurt?” They ask. He expects malice in their tone, but all he finds is a cold curiosity.

Sans nods meekly, “y..y-yeah…”

“Hmm...” They drag their thumb across the top of his soul gently.

Sans’s eyes half close and he relaxes back against the couch, sighing quietly and looking the most serene Chara has ever seen him.

“I take it that doing this relaxes you.” They observe. They stop moving their thumb, then they squeeze his soul gently.

Sans’s shoulders jump up to the sides of his head and his eyes open wide. He lets out a harsh breath through his teeth, drawing in his knees and scratching at the floor, “h-hff...s-stop...p-please s-stop…”

“Does it hurt?” They ask, releasing their grip.

He sucks in a breath of air, putting a hand over his chest and leaning forward, “k-kind of...k-kind of l-like a panic attack…”

They nod, and pinch the side of his soul. Sans gives a bit of a yelp and digs his hands into his sides, snorting and shaking his head, “h-hahaha! f-fuck that’s...hheheheh…” He grins widely.

“Ticklish?” They ask, amused at his reaction.

“hhehehh…” Sans’s grin persists and he wipes at his eyes, “y-yeah..”

This time they pinch the top of his soul.

_ “ghahah! h-hehehe-s-stop! hahahaha _ !” Sans clutches his torso, wheezing for air and crying with the force of his laughter, feeling outright giddy.

The child snickers. “What if I don’t want to?” They say as they use both hands to pinch both sides of his soul.

Sans falls onto his side, shrieking with laughter and giggles as they continue to force overwhelmingly happy emotions into him, making his mind go practically blank as its clouded with superficially joyful thoughts that help him ignore the reality of his situation.

Then, Chara stops pinching and squeezes it. Sans suddenly cries out but is cut off as he tries to gasp in air, scrambling to brace his arms under himself as his eyes widen and he starts hyperventilating. All the silly happiness he was feeling is suddenly stolen away and replaced by a suffocating anxiety. 

Chara laughs, and pinches it again.

_ ‘they're gonna break me they're gonna b-heheheheh...holy fuck this is the best day of my life i’ve never felt this amazing things couldn't be better…’  _ His crying dissolves back into giggles and he shuts his eyes tightly.

Chara releases his soul, giggling. Sans gives a weak gasp and tries to grab it back, choking on cries of fear as he does so.

They hold it out of  reach snickering. “You are not even going to ask for it? How rude.

“h-hff...Ch-Chara p-please g-g-give i-it b-back…”

“Why should I?” They ask, sticking their tongue out playfully.

Sans’s chin trembles and he shuts his eyes, withdrawing his hand and curling it against his chest, shivering. “p-please...p-please y-you d-don’t kn-know h-how...h-how m-much this h-hurts…”

“Very well,  but if you piss me off-”

“i-i u-understand...i u-unders-stand, b-boss, i d-do...p-please...p-please g-give i-it b-back..”

“Wow, I had no idea this could be a thing.” Chara marvels as they hand it over.  “At least  I got you to do it more willingly than Flowey has.~”

“uh-huh...y-yeah…” Sans groans and shivers as he puts it back into his chest, falling limp and drawing in his knees, “y...y-you always d-do..”

“You don’t sound very sure.” The child says, narrowing their eyes.

“wh...you...a-all you...e-ever h-have to d-do i-is th-threaten a R-RESET…”

“Excuse me? “ Chara says, inching closer. “I torture  you just fine without relying on the reset.”

“...y...y-yeah...i...i-it’s j-just k..k-kind’ve a sh-shortcut, to...f-for c-cooperation…”

“Are you calling me a cheater?”

Sans frowns, “uh, no…? that’d...be kind’ve a childish way of puttin’ it…”

“Because, if anything, the soul torture shit is cheating. I can put you in  that much pain on my  own. I don’t have to poke your  soul, I can just shove you in the river and drown  you, or I can  jam my knife  into each of your bones while managing to do minimal  damage to your bones. Don’t you agree?” They say, glaring.

Sans shrinks back against the couch, eyelight shrinking, “i w-w-wasn’t c-calling you a ch-cheater…”

“I don’t appreciate the mockery Sans.” They warn. “Maybe I should use one of my various,  _ creative _ way to make you beg for mercy.”

“b-b-boss wh...i w-wasn’t m...wh-what did i s-say w-wrong..?!”

“You are  _ mine!  _ Not Flowey’s!”

Sans scrambles back onto the couch, shoulders lifting as he draws his knees in, “i-i kn-know, b-boss, i...i d-didn’t...d-didn’t e-ever th-think otherwise…”

“Liar! You fear him more than me!”

“wh...n-no i don’t!” Sans clutched the front of his shirt, fearful that his SOUL might try to escape out his chest in an attempt to flee from Chara, “F-Flowey c-can’t h-hurt a-anybody b-but m-me wh-why would i f-fear h-him m-more?!”

“Because he makes you more afraid then I do..” They say as they take out their knife.

Sans’s eyes widen and he whimpers, “wh-wh-why d-d-do y-y-you th-th-think th-that?!”

“You tried to hide the fact he was here for one.”

“h-he w-was going t-to t-...to t-teach y-you a-about S-SOUL t-torture a..a-and i kn-knew wh-what y-you’d d-do w-with it w-would be...a m-million t-times w-worse th-than a-anything  _ h-he _ c-could..”

They hold up his chin with their  knife. “Then how come he keeps  taking you  from me?”

“i-i d-don’t kn-know! t-to p-piss you o-off?!”

The child huffs. “Fine, but I think...you should stop  _ talking  _ and  _ thinking  _ about him, and focus on the one who can do  _ so much _ horrible shit to you that leaves you  _ permanently damaged _ ! I can leave you immobile with 0.01 health as your maximum, and keep you that way. I could blind you again if I so wished, play with your soul, or use it as a stress toy. I can break you  _ so far worse _ than just your body! I can break your mind worse than what it is now if you want to test me - all you have to do is to say  _ one more tiny word  _ about him.  _ Do you understand me!?” _

Sans shrinks down even further into the couch cushions, nodding frantically, “y-yes, b-boss...i-i u-understand…” He whimpers.

“Again, clearly this time!”  They grab his collar and yank him back onto the floor, heel pushing against his sternum with threatening pressure.

“y-yes b-boss!”  Sans shouts, wheezing and trying to breathe. He fucked up he fucked up so  _ bad _ he doesn’t know  _ how _ but he did… ”i-i’m s-sorry i’m s-so sorry p-please i’m s-sorry..!”

“The only thing keeping you loyal is the reset threat isn't it?” They interrogate, narrowing their eyes.

Sans stares at them, “..yeah..?” He squints, “why...why the h-hell else…?”

They smack him harshly. “It’s the only thing keeping you from killing me isn’t it!?” They yell, grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

Sans digs his nails into the floor, “i...th…..th-th-there’d b-b-be n-no p-point e-either w-way b-boss..” He reminds meekly, getting the idea that his last answer was wrong. 

“I don’t think you  _ are _ scared enough of me.” The child growls, their eyes starting to go dark.

“ **I S  T H A T  I T?”**

Sans opens his mouth to try and say something, but all that comes out is a quiet squeak of terror. 

**“I F  I  T O L D  Y O U  T H A T  I  W O N ‘ T  R E S E T, W O U L D  Y O U  D A R E  T R Y   T O   K I L L  M E?”**

“n-n-n-no Ch..b-b-boss..”

**“A R E  Y O U  L Y I N G  T O  M E?”**

Sans shakes his head, “wh-wh-what would b-b-be the p-p-point?!”

**“T O  T R I C K  M E  I  N T O  L E T T I N G  M Y  G U A R D  D O W N! I S  T H A T  Y O U R  P L A N?”**

_ “No! There's no point in killing you  _ **_you always come back_ ** !” Sans screams, head growing light as he continues depriving himself of oxygen through his hyperventilation and yelling. 

They smack him again, though their eyes start returning to normal. “Good.” They growl, taking out the muzzle. “But you still shouldn’t yell at me.”

Sans gulps, “y...y-you w-were s-screaming you w-wouldn’t h-have heard m-me…”

“Did I ask for you to make excuses?” They ask, yanking him to his knees.

He shakes his head, “n-no b-boss..”

“Hold this to your face.” They order.

Lowering his eyes, Sans reaches up and presses the dirty leather against his cheekbones, biting down on the metal bit and grunting. 

They make it tighter than last time, and it feels like it is slowly crushing his skull. “You can put your hand down now.”

Sans keeps holding the sides of his head, groaning and whimpering in pain at the agonizing pressure on his skull.  

They shove his hands to his sides. “I said to put your hands down!”

Sans lets his arms go limp, pressing his head into the couch instead, “nnnghn..”

“How do you feel?” They ask cheerily.

He looks up hesitantly at them, eyes brimming with tears. It's not just pain and fear - it's frustration. Is this child really so unhinged that every other word has a chance of sending them into a rage? Or is he just so stupid that he can't tell when he's saying something wrong?

It's like he can't even breathe without giving them a reason to hurt him. 

“Answer  me.” They say as their cheery tone drops.

Sans shifts his eyes to the side and gives a weak shrug, unsure how else they  expect him to respond.

“You don’t know how you feel?”

That was a pretty good way of putting it, actually. Sans shakes his head, a shaky sigh escaping him. 

“Fine, don’t answer me.” They  say with a huff, barely able to keep the smirk off their face as they kick him onto the floor.

He grunts, rolling to his side and idly lifting his hands to sign, ‘Can I just go to bed please’

The child looks confused for a second before glaring in anger. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Sans squints, and then remembers that Chara doesn’t know sign language. He drops his hands with a sigh, shutting his eyes. He’s just so used to signing to that face...why did this Chara demon have to possess Frisk? Why not Jerry? That would have been a much easier face to punch.

“Are you trying to contact Frisk? Trying to call for help huh?” They sneer as they grab him by the collar.

He quickly opens his eyes at that name, searching their face desperately for a second before giving up and shaking his head.

They throw him to the ground, taking his arm in their hand. “You just don’t fucking learn, do you?” They say as they snap his arm.

Sans screams through the muzzle, jerking away from them and holding the broken appendage. “ _ nhh _ !”

“Give me your other arm.” They order.

He scrambles back and away from them, knocking over the coffee table as he slips and falls to his rear again.

“Give.Me.Your.Arm!” They repeat, stepping closer to him.

Sans ends up scrambling under the table, hiding between the legs of the chairs and table, shaking his head frantically.

“This is your last chance to come here and give me your arm before things get so much worse for you.” They threaten, staying where they are.

_ ‘get out  _ **_go to them_ ** _ stop being such a  _ **_coward_ ** _ you  _ **_idiot_ ** ..!’ 

In spite of his own mental prompting, Sans can’t get himself to move towards them. He’s just too frightened.

“How about I just re-” They stop themselves. No, they can make him fear more than just the resets. 

They glare over at him, and they slowly step towards him, chuckling at his trembling. “You are in for the punishment of your life.”  They say with a smirk as they grab his broken arm and drag him out from under the table.

Sans yelps, digging his fingernails into the floorboards and crying out at the pressure on his broken appendage - it feels like it’s going to be ripped apart,  _ “nhh! hnn! ghn! _ ”

They drag him all the way onto the couch, and they grab his unbroken arm, and they slowly start to bend it. He thrashes in a desperate attempt to pull free, but the child is stronger than him. A scream tears up his metaphorical throat as the bone snaps, and he quickly dissolves into sobbing, going limp to avoid them pulling on his broken bones.

They quickly tie his broken limbs together, and they start dragging him outside, enjoying every last pained scream.

Time to remind him who he should  _ really  _ fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HOPE WE DID THE SOUL TORTURE JUSTICE DID YOU GUYS LIKE IT WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ITS POTENTIAL ANY IDEAS HM WE LISTENIN


	4. SOULLESS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara is the one to be feared  
> And not just because they can RESET and torture Papyrus  
> But because they're there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, credit to UserIsMe for giving us SOUL torture ideas.  
> tbh guys this thing was a lot shorter until we started getting inspired by you terrible people <3
> 
> ANYWAy this started out as some nice clean wholesome torture and then Sammy was like hEY LETS ADD A KINK  
> and Lucy is weak  
> sO uh  
> Mostly in the next chapter  
> >_>  
> don't say i didnt feckin warn ya

They throw  him onto the frozen ground. “Take out your soul.” They demand.

Sans rolls onto his back, shutting his eyes and trying to draw out his SOUL without using his hands. Chara gets impatient and pulls up his shirts, reaching through his ribcage and taking it out forcefully with their own hands. He gives a strangled cry as they do so, the anger and violent intentions he's sensing from them causing his fear to heighten. 

They look his SOUL over. “You don’t really feel the cold, do you?” They ask him.

Sans squints at them, nodding. Yes, he can feel cold. Not as easily as a monster with flesh, or actual body heat, but enough exposure can get him to shiver like anybody else. 

They ignore his response, and poke his soul a couple times. “I wonder if your soul can…”

Sans starts shivering prematurely, looking at them with a pleading expression in his eyes. But with himself being muted there's nothing he can say to earn himself MERCY. 

They plunge his soul into a small pile of snow.

His first thought is how funny it is that anybody can  _ feel _ numb - that losing all sensation  _ is  _ a sensation. Irony is hilarious. It’s too bad that he doesn’t have the breath to laugh.

If he could, Sans would scream, just to assure himself that he’s still alive. Maybe this is that ‘coldness of the grave’ that he’s heard about. Maybe this sudden loss of all sensation except for  _ cold  _  (and  _ God  _ it’s cold it is so fucking cold) is what death feels like? If so then Sans has been cured of all suicidal ideation for forever. The white hot pain caused by Chara’s blade when they slice into his bones is miles better than this.

It’s like sleep paralysis. He’s vividly aware of every thought in his head, and everything that’s happening around him, but he can’t  _ feel _ anything...nothing except the cold. Sans would have thought that, after being put through so much pain, he would  _ enjoy  _ feeling nothing. But it’s terrifying. He’s trapped in a body that wants nothing more to be allowed to just  _ shiver  _ but not a bone can move. He can’t even breathe. He can’t remember what warmth feels like.

It’s just  _ cold _ ...it’s cold it’s cold it’s  _ freezing  _ he can’t move he can’t feel he can’t do  _ anything  _ but stare blankly up at the sky.

After  minutes  that seem like years, Chara  removes  his soul from the snow, cupping it in their hands.

_ “hhhh-ggGHh!”  _ Sans heaves in air, giving a short cry before sobbing in relief, rolling to his side and shutting his eyes tightly. It’s over it’s over it’s over it’s over...

The child laughs at his reaction.  “So Sansy, how did that  feel?”

“k-kgh...nh…” He forces his eyes open, staring at them.

_ ‘take off the muzzle take off the muzzle please i’ll say whatever you want let me talk please give me a chance to make up for all my fuck ups  _ please _ …’ _

“What’s that? You want more?” They ask holding a hand to their ear and laughing.

He can’t help it.

Sans starts  _ wailing _ . Screaming against the muzzle and shaking his head, choking on his own tears as he buries his face in the snow, hyperventilating and crying out loudly into the leather over his mouth. He can hear the godawful sound echoing around Snowdin. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that this isn’t going to get him more sympathy he just can’t contain this frustration and fear anymore.

They laugh hysterically at his reaction, and plunge his soul back into the snow. His voice is frozen again until they pull it back out. The white heart is tinged slightly blue, and it takes longer for him to recover himself again. He draws in his knees in an effort to bring himself some heat. They’re going to do it again. He  _ knows  _ they are.

Because they don’t care if they literally kill him. Because they can bring him back again and again and again and do this to him again and again and again until  _ they  _ get bored. Until  _ they’re  _ tired of it - of his screams and tears and silent pleading.

Not him.

Never him.

They walk up and unhook the muzzle, smirking. Sans gasps in a breath, coughing at the rush of cold air that fills his mouth. “ _ ghk _ ! b-boss p-p-please n-n-no m-m-more p-please n-no m-more i-i’m s-s-sorry i-i’m s-s-so s-sorry p-please p-p-please i-i’ll b-be g-good i s-swear i s-swear p-please j-just g-give m-me b-back m-my S-SOUL i-i’m s-s-sorry i-i’m s-s-so s-sorry..!”

“Why should  I  give it  back to  you?”  The child taunts, flicking his  soul a couple times.

_ “Ghg! _ b-boss p-please i...i-i’m b-beggin’ y-you h-here...i...i-i’ll d-do wh-what you w-want i-i’m s-sorry for b-bein’ an i-idiot i’m  _ scared b-boss i-i’m r-really s-scared p-please please l-let m-me h-have it b-back _ !”

“How about you start by answering my question~” They say in a sudden sweet tone,  and rubbing his soul calmingly.

“ _ i don’t _ -!” Sans’s yelling dies abruptly and he goes limp against the snow, half-closing his eyes and staring dazedly at the ground, “...uh, log..logically…? there’s...there’s long...long term consequences for..for keepin’ a SOUL separate too long from its...owner..” He gives a sigh, breathing steadying out, “i’ll get weaker..’ventually won’t be...i’ll keep passin’ out...literally won’t be able to stay conscious...and it’s...probably boring to torture somebody that’s comatose..”

“How long would that take?”

He shuts his eyes in thought, “...hm...i dunno for sure..kinda depends monster to monster...not like there’s been a lotta studies on it either, y’know? since it’s...really, really cruel…”

Chara releases his SOUL, allowing it to float freely in their hands. “I guess we will just have to find out then hmm?” They say as the make their  way back to the house with  his SOUL.

“w..wait…” Sans manages to push himself to his knees, struggling to get up, “w-wait boss i..i n-need help…”

“Do it yourself.”  He hears them call from inside the house. 

At least they left the door open.

Sighing, Sans pushes himself back against a tree, grunting and doing his best to keep the pressure off of his brokens arms as he braces his heels into the ground and gets himself up to his feet. He winces as he shrugs the snow off of his shoulders, limping back towards the house and stepping inside. He remembers to wipe off his feet before he can track anything in anywhere. After frowning at the door for a moment, he nudges it with his foot and then leans against it to shut it.

He grins, pleased that he found the solution to such an easy predicament. Slowly he slides down to his seat against the door, shutting his eyes and leaning his head back.  He can hear Chara shuffling  about in the kitchen, and a few minutes later they come out holding a jar containing his soul. 

“Look Sansy, nice and cozy~”

He cracks open one eye, “..mhm...thanks..”

They frown at his lack of reaction, and turn back to his SOUL. “Now you have nothing to worry about when I am not around if I keep it with me.” They easily place the jar into their inventory, and relax on the couch. “Feeling tired?” They ask.

Sans shrugs, still dazed from their hypnotic manipulation of his SOUL, and gives a pained whine at the ache this causes his broken arms, “ow..” 

They get up, walking over to him and snapping their fingers in front of his face. “Hello~ Earth to Sans~”

“‘urts…” He mutters dazedly, shutting his eyes tightly and stiffening, “got any heal...can i heal? please? boss?”

They scowl at him, then they feed him a candy fragment. “Fine, but only a little.”

Sans swallows it, but nothing happens. He frowns, and then starts laughing when he realizes it’s fallen straight through him onto the floor, wheezing and shutting his eyes tightly.

Chara rolls their eyes and opens the  jar, returning his soul to him. “Eat it quickly.”

“uhm i can't..” Sans wiggles the fingers of his tied hands, a brief giggle escaping him. 

They glare at him and shove the candy harshly into his mouth, slamming him up against the door. “Are you laughing at me?”

Sans blinks rapidly, the fog in his mind finally starting to clear, “wh..? n..n-no, boss..”

“Shut up!” They yell as they abruptly  resecure the mouthpiece of the muzzle, and they throw him down to the ground, intentionally jarring his broken arms with the force of the impact.

Sans yelps, starting to fight the ropes tying his wrists together as he's yanked from his drunken calm back into panic.

“I don’t appreciate being laughed at Sansy.”  They growl as they kick his ribs.

Sans shakes his head frantically, but then just curls up tightly and shuts his eyes. He's just going to have to suffer through this - whatever he did he's just going to have to pay for it. 

They kick him again, knocking him to half his health.

_ “N-NH!” _ Oh fuck oh fuck they’re going to kill him...not like it  _ matters  _ of course, what with Chara having made their new SAVE point. Dying is just never a pleasant experience. Though in this case it might be for the best - let Chara get their anger out, and hope that watching him turn to dust will satisfy their psychotic, sadistic SOUL.

“You are such a fuck up aren’t you?” The child seethes.

Gulping, Sans nods, curling up the fingers of his bound hands and trembling as their feet step into his line of sight. 

“When will you learn?” They chastise, clicking their tongue.

His eyes shut as they crouch down in front of his face, sucking in a deep breath as his shaking gets worse.

“I’m tempted to leave you tied uncomfortably to a chair all night. Can you convince me otherwise?” They say, voice sickly sweet.

Sans flinches as he feels their fingers trace down the side of his face. He tries to think, tries to come up with a good reason why they shouldn’t. He opens his eyes, looking up at them and then lowering his gaze, shaking his head.

He hears them snicker. “Thought so.” 

Chara lifts him by his broken arms, and shoves him into a dining chair.

“ _ nahh! _ ” Sans cries out, bending forward over his waist and choking on a sob. He shakes his head at them desperately, whimpering in pain.

They snicker and undo the mouthpiece. “Yes Sansy?”

“g-gh..p...p-please d...d-don’t h-hurt m-me s-so m-much, p-please…”

“Ha! What makes you think you deserve relief?” They mock.

He lowers his head, wincing at their laughter, “i..i d-don’t...i-i’m sorry..”

“Thought so.” They say as they  start to tie  him to the chair. 

After securing his arms and legs, they loop a piece of rope around his neck and tie it to the back of the chair. “There we go, how does that feel?” They ask with a smirk.

Sans swallows, tilting his chin up to alleviate the tightness around his throat, “i...i-it’s un..uncomfortable..”

“Good. Are you hungry?” They ask. “It is way past dinnertime after all.”

Sans hesitates, trying to guess whether or not there's a right answer before just being honest, “y..y-yeah..”

“Alright.” They enter the kitchen, and rummage around.

“U-uhm..th...thanks..”

“Shut up.” He hears them say as they come out with  a quesadilla.  “You get half I get half.” They say as they hold a slice to his mouth.

He winces at the sharp order, falling silent and swallowing the bite. Feeling the magic food starting to instinctively go towards healing his arms, Sans redirects it to his ‘stomach’. A small, blue pouch forms around his gut beneath his shirts as he stores away the excess energy. He doesn't know if Chara wants him to heal, and if they don't then they'll break his arms all over again and that's the last thing he wants right now. 

They take a bite of their own slice as they hold up his piece. He stays quiet and uncomplaining, eating as he's directed and doing his best to not give them a reason to be angry with him.

“Why is your shirt glowing?” Chara asks, looking at  him curiously.

Sans tries to glance down, but the rope keeps him from moving his chin, “uh, wh..what? i can't..can't see..” He fakes cluelessness, hoping to trick Chara into maybe untying his neck. Their curiosity _is_ their weak point...  
They lift up his shirt, exposing his belly, “Oooh, I didn't know you could  make skin with your magic.” They enthuse.

“s..s-still not sure what you're talking about..” Sans says, squirming a bit in discomfort. 

They poke his belly experimentally. “Weird...”

“ _ ha _ !” Sans yelps, jerking in place and giving a nervous laugh, “a-ha, th...th-that’s k-kinda sensitive, k-kid…”

The child bursts into laughter, poking him again. His legs jolt reflexively and he tries to push back away from them as choked laughs are forced out of him. He shuts his eyes tightly, coughing and digging his heels into the floor. “s-stop!” He yelps, “s-stop pl- _ haha!-stop  _ please!” 

They start to poke relentlessly, amused at his reactions. Sans grits his teeth, shutting his eyes and abruptly allowing the magic to channel into his injuries and heal them, causing his stomach to disappear. 

“Hey!  Did I say you could  get  rid of it!? Bring it back.”  They demand.

“can't.” Sans says shortly, catching his breath. “it's gone. sorry.”

They smack him. “Bring.It.Back!”

Sans gasps at the sudden pain, shifting his jaw, “i..i r-really can't, the..the extra magic is g-gone..i j-just used it to heal myself..”

“Extra magic?”

“y..y-yeah..”

“...Care to explain?”

“i j...humans work the same way don't they? extra energy from food gets stored if you don't need it..”

“Nah, we  just burn it off. Ever hear of a sugar rush?” The child says with a giggle. “Still, how much energy can you store?”

Sans forces himself to grin at their joke, looking to the side, “i...i-i dunno..”

“Then I guess we have  to find out then!” They say as they  hurry off back into the kitchen.

“uh, wh..what…?”

“I’m going to see just how much ‘extra energy’ you can store!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, check out our ask blog at hellish-anomaly.tumblr.com, and send in songs that are relevant to these fics, I'm creating a playlist, and I would love the help.-Sam


	5. Curiosity Killed the Cat's Mouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans tries to put his foot down slightly and immediately regrets it very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay stuffing may not be your thing but if you're down for Sans feeling humiliated/uncomfortable, then you'll have a bit of fun

“So, Sansy, what do you want to eat first?” They call out.

“uh, t..those quesadillas are pretty good..” Sans swallows, looking out the corner of his eye, “where’d...where’d you l-learn to cook..?”

“M-T-Toriel. When I was alive.” They answer. “Asriel and I found a cookbook in the Garbage Dump, and so we tried it out. She wouldn’t let us do it without supervision of course. Dunno why, not like we were going to kill ourselves.” They add with a laugh.

“........well…”

They exit the kitchen carrying a plate with several quesadillas, smirking. “Precisely.” They say with a chuckle as they set the plate on the table. “Hungry?”

“y..y-yeah…”

“Excellent.” They enthuse as they pick up a pizza cutter, place a quesadilla on the table, cutting it into slices. They hold apiece to his mouth. “You are going to be eating for a while.”

“k..k-kinda been.. _ not _ eating, f-for a while…” Sans swallows, coughing a bit, “th..that’s fine..”

“So how long will it take to bring back your magic-storage thing?” They ask as they hold up another piece.

“..you can probably just call it my stomach..”

“Answer my question.”

“i...i don’t know, i honestly don’t..”

The child clicks their tongue and prepares another quesadilla.

“...s..so do...do you maybe wanna...t-take a trip to the...the d-dump or s-somethin’, a-at some point..?”

“Sure.” They say, holding another piece up.

He gives a small smile, shoulders relaxing some as he continues eating, “g..great..”

Once the plate runs empty, Chara reenters the  kitchen to prepare more food. They repeat the process every few minutes. Sans feels more and more of his wounds healing each time he takes a bite until he doesn’t have a single ache anywhere. He gives a sigh of relief as the last bruise disappears. “that’s so much better..” He murmurs, closing his eyes.

“We  haven’t even started yet.” The child  says a  little disgruntled, as they hold more food  up to his mouth.

“yeah but-” Sans pauses to swallow, “h-haven’t felt this healed in..in a w-while...it..i-it’s pretty nice..”

“Tch,  well, don’t expect  it to last long.”

He winces, turning his eyes down, “..’kay...i won’t…”

They hold up more food. Sans starts to feel the energy bypassing his SOUL and forming around his gut.

“Finally.” The child says as soon as they  are able to  see  the glowing from  under his shirts. They hold more food up to him.

Sans hesitates, but opens his mouth, shutting one eye. He’s not unused to eating a little extra - what with having 1 HP it always made him feel a bit better to have some back up healing magic in case he had a lethal accident, like tripping. He’s not sure how far the kid is going to try and push this, though, and that has him a little concerned.

“You look apprehensive,  never eaten so much before?” They ask  with a smirk, holding up another bite.

“i don’t...i don’t know wh..wh-what’ll happen if i eat too much. i don’t have a way to get rid of extra magic, with..w-with my eye b-bein’ messed up..”

“Well, I am curious to see how far you can go.”

“...g..g-guess it d-doesn’t really m-matter if it k-kills me..”

“Nope!” They say as they hold up another bite.

Sans keeps his mouth closed, looking away from them and curling up his fists.

The child frowns. “Sans, eat it.”

“..i..i-i don’t really wanna do this b-boss..” He says meekly.

“Did I ask you what you wanted?”

He gulps, shaking his head, “n-no, boss..”

They slap him. “Then you do as I say. Open up.”

His jaw trembles as he complies, fingers digging into the palms of his hands to relieve the anxiety that’s always caused when Chara raises their voice at him. They shove the cheesy dough down his throat, looking annoyed but curious again as they lift up the hem of his shirt again to expose the glowing, blue belly. 

They poke it again with a smirk.

Sans snorts, frowning and drawing back his shoulders.

“Aww holding back?  I thought you  _ wanted _ to be happy?” They say, poking his belly continuously.

_ “h-hah!  _ h-hff...y-yeah l-like i-i’m e-ever gonna b-be happy a-again…”

The child  laughs,  going to the kitchen and reappearing with a plastic bag full of cinnabuns. They hold it  up to his mouth. Sans gives a shaky sigh and swallows, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Chara braces their hands on his gut, “Oh wow, it’s  growing! I thought there would be  a limit, I didn't think that it would grow!” They say with a laugh.

Sans frowns, squinting at them, “how do  _ human  _ stomachs work..?”

“It gets full, and if overfilled it comes back up. At least with human food. I  dunno about magic food.”

“..uh, o-okay, well we...w-we solved that mystery s-so m..m-maybe we can be done now…?”

“Do monsters vomit?”

“i’ve seen it before but, they had..y’know..organs..”

“Well, I wonder  how for  you  can  go,  don’t you?” They say,  picking  up two  cinna buns and holding to his mouth.

Sans pushes his head back, “n-no not r-really..”

“Well,  you have no say  anyway sooooo...”  They shove  a cinnabun in his mouth.

Sans forces it down, giving a shudder, “i f-feel sick..” 

“Good.” They  say as  they hold up another.

“b-boss please-” Sans chokes, squirming as Chara holds his jaw shut. He coughs, turning his head away from them, “n-no m-more let's j-just stop okay…?”

“Nah~”  They say as they pick up the  last two cinnabuns. “Open up~”

“p-please b-boss i-it’s starting to h-hurt..”

“Obey!”

“ _ please _ -!” Sans's head is forced forward again, but this time Chara takes out his SOUL, holding it threateningly in their hand, “n-no..”

“I warned you what would happen if you pissed me off, Sansy. Now I have to punish you.”

“Ch-b-boss no w-wait i-i’m s-sorry i’ll be good d-don’t-!”

“Too late! This is the third time you've tried to tell me no. Bad pets get punished.” They hold up his soul, and they take out their knife, pressing the flat of the blade against it.

Sans’s bones turn pure white and his eyelight shrinks, “no..n-no no no please i-i’m b-begging you Chara no-!”

They carefully dig the blade in slightly, and they scrape it down like cutting a thin slice of cheese. Nothing comes off, to their disappointment, but they can see wide scratches forming in the white heart. Sans screams, thrashing in his bindings and crying. Oh god oh god it hurts it hurts it hurts it  _ hurts _ ...

“ _ i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry Chara please please i’m sorry i’m sorry i’ll be good i’m  _ **_sorry Chara please stop please_ ** !”

They laugh, and when their knife reaches the bottom of his soul, they flip it over and press the knife to the other side.

Sans is idly aware of tears streaming down his face as he tears up his voice, begging for them to stop, to have MERCY, to give him a second chance...they don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t understand what’s going to happen if they don’t stop.

_ “Chara you have to stop you have to stop please please  _ **_please_ ** _ you  _ **_have to_ ** _ i’m going to fracture i’m g-going to  _ **_fracture stop please_ ** !”

They sigh, and put the knife away. “Then I guess you better obey me the first time.” They say as they pick up the cinnabuns.

Sans nods, chest shuddering from the force of his crying as he tries to bring it under control. He suffocates for a brief moment as he chews and swallows the next piece put into his mouth, gasping in air as he leans his head back, sniffing. “i’m s-sorry i’m s-so sorry..”

“Only cause you were punished.” They say with a smirk as they hold up the last cinnabun.

He nearly bites their fingers off in the process of taking it from their hand and swallowing it, “i-i’m b-being g-good s-see? i-i’m n-not arguing i-i’m d-doin’ what you w-want p-please b-boss f-for the l-love of g-god d-don’t Fracture m-me,  _ please _ …!”

“Shut up.” They sneer as they head back into the kitchen.

Sans snaps his mouth shut, trying to keep his panicked breathing as quiet as possible. He can't fuck up like that again. He can't disobey orders he can't ask for  _ anything  _ he has to stay silent unless spoken to he  _ cannot _ try to fight them again. Not at the risk of his SOUL Fracturing. It's not worth it, it's just not...

They come out a bit later carrying a stack of bagels and the tub of poisoned spaghetti. Sans feels his SOUL shudder in dread as he recognizes the tainted noodles, but he says nothing. He'll eat it. He'll eat the entire damn container if they ask him to without hesitation, no matter what the physical consequences are. 

They feed him the bagels one by one. He only ever hesitates when he has to literally choke a piece down, pretending that the ache in his gut doesn't exist. He can't see but he can feel his shirt being pushed up, unable to completely cover his upper body anymore. 

Eventually the bag is empty and he's allowed a moment to take in deep breaths, groaning in pain and shutting his eyes. “nngh..h-hff...nh..”

They hold  up the  tub of spaghetti. “So,  you  can heal  yourself right?”

“y..yeah..n-no problem..”

“Will  the poison still hurt?”

“i...i c-can purge it now, y-yeah..”

“But will it still hurt?”

Sans sucks in a slow breath, “...if you w..i j-just won’t h-heal it, if...i-if th-that’s what you w-want...f-for it to h-hurt, i m-mean..”

“Only heal your hp when it gets below .15” They order.

“k..k-kay but if i pass..p-pass out, y-y’know th...th-there’s nothin’ i c-can do at th-that point..” Sans nervously knots the fingers of his tied hands together, “so..s-so m-maybe y...y-you sh-shouldn’t...sh-shouldn’t l-leave m-me a..a-alone, y-y’know…? just...j-just in case..”

“Not if you stay awake.”

“i..i-it’s poison, i...it’ll kn-knock me out i-i’m not...n-not the strongest..”

“You will stay awake if I tell you to.” They warn.

He feels his shoulders pull back in agitation at their tone, “..r-right..yes boss..”

They hold a forkful up to his mouth. He doesn't hesitate, pulling his head forward as much as he can with the rope tying his neck to the chair. Forcing him to choke himself so he can reach poisoned food just seems especially cruel to him, considering his past experiences with buttercups. Still, he eats every forkful given to him without complaint.

He has to be especially cooperative if he wants to, at the very least, come out relatively unharmed when he makes his next request. 

“There we go.  Have  a  good night Sansy~” They say as they  start  to  walk  towards  the bedroom.

“w..w-wait, boss, c...c-can you p-please s…” Sans shuts his eyes, swallowing, “.c-can you p-please stay w-with me for a bit? please..?”

They  scoff.  “Why?” They  ask turning around.

Sans curls in his toes, looking away, “..b..b-be..b-bec-cause you...t-take g-good c-care of y-your p-pets…?” 

“Why  do you  want me  to  stay  with you?”

His chin quivers, “..i..i-i’m l-lonely, and s-scared, a..a-and i j...i j-just wanna b-be pet f-for a bit th-that’s all..”

“Well, I’m tired from cooking  all  night.  You  will  survive  til morning. Night~”  They say as they  continue  to  the  room.

Sans shuts his eyes tightly, letting a choked sob out. So much for that. What's the point of letting himself give up his dignity so soon if he can't even profit from it? Just a quick affectionate touch was all he wanted. Why is that so much to ask for? 

He keeps his jaw shut to keep the sounds of his crying as quiet as possible. At least as the seizures set in he's effectively distracted from his loneliness as he's thrown into a panic. His SOUL contracts painfully in his chest as it tries to instinctively reach for the nearby healing magic, wanting to purge the poison. It's a struggle to keep holding himself back - his involuntary thrashing causes him to keep choking himself against the rope on his neck. He can't breathe. He can't breathe he can't  _ breathe _ he's going to black out and die-

Unexpectedly the rope strangling him is untied and his head falls forward, chin pressing against his collarbone as he tries to bring his breathing into control. Something strokes his head as he fights back sobs in order to take in air. He whimpers, going slack and letting his head loll against the soothing pressure.

“Awwhh...poor trash bag. You just can't do  _ anything _ right, can you?”

Sans stiffens at the voice, hiccoughing and looking to the stairs, “Ch-Chara…!” He calls out weakly, only to have himself muted by a thick vine wrapping around his mouth and muting him.

“Relax, puppy. I'm not here to hurtcha.” Flowey assures in a gentle voice, scratching under Sans's chin and rubbing the back of Sans's skull with his vines, “You wanted a little bit of petting, right? I'm just trying to help~”

Sans whines at first, giving jerky, protesting movements against Flowey's touch. But it doesn't take long for him to give up. He goes limp, sniffing and letting the malevolent weed pet him.

_ ‘it's okay...it feels nice, it's okay...it’ll keep you calm if you let it…’ _

Sans swallows, reluctantly shutting his eyes and leaning into Flowey’s touch.  __

_ “There's _ a good puppy~” Flowey coos into his ear, snickering and rubbing down the skeleton’s spine to soothe away the aches, “Just let your ol’ pal Flowey help! I'll be your unofficial pet sitter when Chara's not around - how about that?”

“ngh...n-nh..” Is all Sans can manage in response.

Flowey just giggles, continuing to pet him until he drifts off. The SOULLESS child hums happily until he sees the sun coming up. He nudges Sans awake, “Rise and shine!” Flowey chirps, retying the rope around his neck and withdrawing his vines, “You weren't allowed to sleep, remember?”

Sticking out his tongue, Flowey gives a wink, disappearing out the window and closing it behind him. Sans stares after, not sure how to react. So now neither of his tormentors are predictable, and he's depending on both of them for comfort.

He stares up at the ceiling, idly remembering the paralysis symptom when he finds himself unable to twitch a finger. Sans sniffs, shutting his eyes as he hears Chara exit their room.

He's got a feeling today is going to be a long day. And he's not ready for it. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was a real bonding experience for sammy and i to figure out we shared a kink lemme tell you  
> nothing binds like kinksharing


	6. A Little Affection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honesty is the best policy right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> H-ha, what? N-...no, I'm not posting this in the middle of English 101 class..h-ha...
> 
>  
> 
> (Sam here, don't forget to check out our blog at hellish-anomaly.tumblr.com)

“Oh Sansy~”  They  call  out as they  descend the  stairs.

He tries to call back, to assure them he's awake he's awake he stayed up like they asked but he can't  _ move _ he can't open his mouth to speak...

“Aww, look at the little Sansy,  all  paralyzed  from the buttercups~”

Sans gulps as they slowly step closer, breathing hitching as he starts to panic. He makes soft wheezing sounds in place of hyperventilation, shutting his eyes and whimpering as tears start escaping. He doesn’t want to do this again. He doesn’t want all the pain and torture and mocking he can’t do it he just wants to go back to sleep...

To his  surprise, he feels them pet his  skull. Cautiously he opens his one working eye, gaze flickering back and forth between their hand and their face. His confusion is obvious. They didn’t want to pet him last night - why have they suddenly changed their mind?

They giggle. “I told you to wait for morning didn’t I?”

His gaze flickers to the side for a moment as he recalls the previous night. Yes, they’d said something along those lines. But he hadn’t been patient enough, obviously. Should he tell them about Flowey? He  doesn’t know.

_ ‘...but i can’t talk for a while anyways...i..i got some time to decide..’ _ He assures himself.

“It must be pretty lonely without any friends.” They state as they continue to pet his skull.

Sans looks down, nodding as much as he can with the ropes being as they are around his neck. He swallows, taking in a deep breath to ease away any urge to cry.

“Or your brother.” They add with a smirk.

Taking the hint that they  _ want _ the tears, Sans obligingly lets a couple escape, sniffing and looking at them with cloudy eyes.

“Awww, it's alright.  I'm sure they will forgive you.  Especially since they won't remember a thing.” They say as they scratch his head gently.

His eyes flutter closed and he reluctantly gives a shaky sigh, just focusing on how nice it feels to be touched so gently and lovingly, as fake as it might be. 

“There’s a good puppy~”

It physically hurts to force the smile in his eyes, but he doesn't want to risk seeming unappreciative. They start to untie him and the excited whimpering sounds he makes himself give cause him to feel sick. Sicker than he already feels due to last night's treatment.

They sit on the couch, patting the spot next to them. “Come lay in my lap~”

A panicked look crosses his face as he tries to move his paralyzed body, breathing growing rapid as he starts to fear being punished for being unable to comply to such a simple order.

He can heal himself - will he get in trouble for it? 

The impatient look they give him makes up his mind for him,  and he shuts his eyes, withdrawing the stored magic and healing himself just enough so he can move. He still can't quite tug his shirt all the way down but it's definitely still better than before.

He clumsily falls on his barely-working knees next to the couch, climbing on with a bit of difficulty and putting his head in their lap, panting from the effort.

They pet him gently, humming a small little tune. His eyes close and he goes slack, putting all rational thoughts of danger in the back of his mind and locking them away. He just wants to feel like everything is okay, just for a moment...

“Tell me how worthless you are.” They say as they stop petting him and unhook the muzzle’s front.

“..wh..” Sans blinks, looking up at them, “..wh-what…?”

“You heard me.”

“..but, y...y-you already kn-know..” He tries meekly. 

“Are you arguing with me?”

Immediately he relents, “n-no boss i-i’m sorry i didn’t..didn't mean to…”

“Tell me how worthless you are.” They repeat.

Sans shrinks down against them, looking at the floor, “...i...i-i’m p..p-pathetic and..a-and useless..” He begins in a weak voice, knotting his fingers together tightly.  

“And what makes you pathetic and useless?”

“...i..i was too afraid for...f-for myself to p-protect my own b-brother…” Sans sniffs, chin trembling, “i..i-i’m a f-fuck up, i c-can’t do anything r-right...i...th-the only t-time i c-can be h-helpful is wh-when you t-tell me wh-what to do because i...i-i’m too s-stupid to get it r-right on my own…”

“Good puppy~” They praise, petting his skull.

Sans sniffs, shutting his eyes tightly and trying to enjoy the sensation, trying to ignore the gross feeling of self-loathing in his gut that makes him feel sick.

Or maybe it's the poison making him feel sick...or the general overindulgence he'd been forced through last night. Sans groans and gives a whimper as he feels a stab of pain in his stomach, curling his knees in tighter.

“Who knew you could get so fat.” The child mocks as they poke his belly harshly.

Sans gives a muffled yelp of protest, curling in on himself and trying to shift out of their reach. 

“Pretty big boned for a skeleton, isn't that what you used to say?” They mock, poking harder.

“p-please s-stop..” He whimpers, tugging his shirt down to cover his swollen gut, cringing at their demeaning tone. 

“Are you telling me what to do?” They threaten, pushing down hard on his gut.

“ _ gh _ !” Sans squirms at the painful discomfort, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head, “n-no, b-boss…” 

“Good. Now lay here and stay quiet.” They say as they turn on the tv, an old movie already in.

Sans swallows, wrapping his arms around his stomach loosely and taking in deep, silent breaths to keep his trembling down. He doesn't bother trying to stop the shamed tears that escape him, though. Crying is something he does too often now to be at all self-conscious about it.

 

They don't acknowledge him beyond a few pets until the movie is over. Then they abruptly stand up and walk a few feet from the couch, turning to face him, “Come here.” They order sharply.

Sans blinks, struggling to sit up as he processes the demand. He tries to stand up but immediately falls forward onto his face. 

The child snickers, before patting their leg like someone beckoning a dog. “Come on Sansy, you can do it~”

Wincing, Sans braces himself up on his elbows, panting and shifting his knees beneath him, struggling to stand. Every part of his body feels like it's made of paper - he'd never consumed so much poison at once before. And with the extra weight in his front, he’s quick to lose his balance. Sans gets himself up off of one knees before his legs start shaking violently and he drops back to the floor. 

“I  _ said _ , come here.”

Sans flinches at their tone and he hurriedly pushes himself up again, dragging his body forward and collapsing at their feet, gasping for breath. 

“Stand.”

He tries. He tries so hard. Repeatedly he attempts to get back up only to fall to his face again. He does this over until he’s too exhausted to move. 

He collapses again. “i..i-i c-can’t, i c-can’t do it i-i’m sorry..” He whimpers, shutting his eyes and bracing himself for punishment.

“You are so pathetic.” They say as they help him up.

Sans keeps his head bowed as he’s forced to cling to their arms, sniffing and trying not to lean on them so much. It’s ridiculous that this kid is the same height as him. As if he needed to feel anymore powerless against them.

They help him back onto the couch. Sans continues cowering as he slumps against the sofa arm, trembling and keeping his head turned away from them. His breathing is shallow and shaky.

“Do we need to learn to walk again?” They coo mockingly.

He buries his face into the sleeves of his jacket, trying to muffle his sniffling. He can’t even  _ walk  _ on his own anymore...what is he being reduced to?

“Aww, poor puppy~” They say, taking his hands and pulling him up.

“g-gh..” Sans’s eyes widen as he realizes he hadn’t answered them, “w..w-wait i d-didn’t m-mean..i w-wasn’t i-ignoring y-you b-boss i-i’m sorry i wasn’t...i-i’m sorry i d-didn’t a-answer,  _ p-please _ -!” He drops to one knee, but Chara holds him up from falling all the way.

“Stand up, come on, you can do it~” They coo, tugging him straight.

He gives a strangled gasp, pushing his feet further apart to try and steady himself. “s...s-s-something’s w-wrong...s-something’s wrong w-with my l-legs i c...i c-can’t s-stand th…th-they won’t h-hold me...”

“Keep trying, it's probably the paralysis.”

“th...th-then i c-can’t...i c-can’t move until i-it’s gone...i c-can’t do it..”

“Pshh, don't be pathetic, come on. Step forward.”

“b-boss i  _ c-can’t _ -!”

“Do it.” They order.

His breath hitches and he grips their arms tightly as he shuffles a foot forward, cautiously putting weight on it and giving a hiss of pain as he does so.

“You did it!” They praise,  pulling him forward more. “Good job, keep going.”

“i-it hurts…”

“And you are doing very well. Keep going.” They praise, pausing to stroke his head.

Sans’s eyes close for a second as he tilts his head into their palm, breathing steadying out a bit. He nods, swallowing and moving forward again, in spite of feeling like his legs are going to snap into pieces.

“There you go~” They pull him forward once more.

His legs abruptly quit on him and he tumbles, pulling Chara down with him. He pushes back from them, eyes wide, “sh-sh...i-it was a-an accident i-i’m sorry..!”

“You clumsy idiot.” They say with a chuckle. They push off the ground and hold out their hands. “Try again.”

Sans slowly lowers his arm from covering his eyes, “y...y-you’re...n-not gonna h-hurt me..?”

“Come on, stand up.” They say, ignoring his question and grabbing his arms.

“g-gh!” He tenses and ducks his head away, holding his breath.

“Now hold yourself.” They let go of him and back up.

Sans nearly falls, but he braces an arm under his stomach and reorients his center of balance, taking in a deep breath. His legs shake, but Chara smiles and beckons him and he manages to walk towards them, though he still grabs their arms for stability when he comes near enough.

“See!? I told you you could do it!” They praise excitedly,  petting his head and grinning.

Sans sniffs, laughing weakly and letting his forehead rest on their shoulder, trembling and eventually smiling as they stroke him, sighing and unintentionally giving a quiet purr.

“There we go. I told you you could do it~”

Sans nods, shyly burying his face a little deeper into their sweater as they sit down and allow him to rest his head in their lap. They hum, petting his head and giggling whenever they manage to coax a purr out of him. He hazily opens his eyes and looks up at them, blinking slowly and risking a small, nervous smile.

“You did so well.” They say, smiling back.

“th...th-thanks, b-boss…” Sans sniffs, wiping his sleeve over his eyes and letting out a slow breath.

“Do you think you can do more or do you want to rest longer?”

The thought of trying again makes his shins ache, and he winces, “...i’ll...i-i’ll do more if you want me t-to, boss…”

“I asked  _ you.” _

“...y..y-you s-said it...i-it d-doesn’t matter wh-what i want, a...a-and i th-thought i...i-i sh-should j..j-just do wh-what you want m-me to, i…” Sans squints, curling up his fists against his chest and looking away, “...i-i’m...i-i d-don’t kn-know h-how to make d-decisions, a-anymore…”

The child giggles. “Well it's about time.”

He looks back up at them, confused, “.t-time..?”

“You have finally learned that you don't have an opinion. I'm so proud of you!” They say, petting his head once more.

Sans's eye twitches, and he finds himself unable to respond.

“Just think, soon enough you'll be the perfect pet! Every time I RESET you'll be waiting at the Ruins for me, and I'll be leading you around on a leash  _ everywhere,  _ like a little puppy! I'll be able to make you do whatever I want!” They enthuse, scratching behind his head and grinning a little too widely at the ceiling, “It's going to be so much fun, isn't it, Sansy?” They look back down to see him crying silently, and they laugh, “Awwhh..” They wrap their arms around him and squeeze him tightly, “Don’t be scared, puppy! It's going to be fun! Think of all the  _ good _ times we'll have, with you being my perfect little slave!”

“b..b-boss p-please..” Sans hiccups, feeling his shoulders tremble, “d-don’t do th-this to m-me…”

“Why not? It's not like you have any say~” They laugh.

Sans chokes on a sob, rasping in a breath and doing what he can to muffle the sound of his crying, hiding his mouth and nose under his arm and shutting his eyes tightly. “n-no...n-n-no…”

“Are you telling me no?”

“i…” Sans hides his face further in their sweater, well aware of the pathetic irony that is trying to seek solace from the one causing him all his pain. 

“Answer.” They say, tugging his collar to force him to make eye contact.

His chin trembles as he looks up at them fearfully, “i...i-i s-said n-no, i..i-i’m s-sorry i didn't m-mean to s-say i-it…”

“You didn’t mean to?”

“i d-didn’t m-mean to t-tell you n-no..”

“How do you accidently defy me?” They interrogate.

“...i...i d-don’t know...i didn't mean to...to...i...i-i’m scared...i-i’m s-scared and i w-was begging…”

“Shut up.” They snap, annoyed. “Come on, let's get you on your feet again.”

Sans nods, pushing himself back off of their lap, “y-yes b-boss…” He swallows, bracing his back against the sofa and trying to drag himself to his feet.

They stand, pulling him up by his arms. Sans shuts his eyes and begs himself to stay standing in spite of his shaking legs. 

“Step forward.”

“y-yes boss..” Sans says as numbly as possible, trying to just get himself to follow orders and keep from becoming a pathetic mess of emotions at the thought of Chara’s end goals for him.

They pull him forward a bit too fast. He trips, predictably, and lands hard on his face, feeling something crack. His HP drops to 0.3 and he starts gasping in panic, reaching up and feeling a fracture along his skull, “o-oh shit...n-no no no no..” Sans struggles to push himself to his knees, trying to heal the break. “i-i’m sorry boss i-i’m sorry i d...i d-didn’t m-mean..i-i’m sorry i j..sh-shit…” His eyelight fades as he starts to blackout.

Chara  pulls him up, and quickly moves him to the couch before he can fall again. Sans whimpers, putting a hand over the break in his skull, “c-c...c-can i h-heal it p-please i d...i-i’m sorry, b-boss, i-i’m s-sorry-!”

“Shh, I’ll take care of you.” Chara promises in a sweet voice, gently patting his injured head. They take out an extra  shard of the monster candy. “Open your mouth.”

Sans complies, swallowing the food and using the concentrated magic to heal the fracture in his skull. He gives a shaky sigh, going limp against the couch cushions as the break is stitched back together. That candy...it came from the Ruins, right? Makes sense that Tori would leave out such a powerful health item, what with being so worried about her kids all the time.

“Feeling better?”

“y...y-yeah…” Sans sniffs, forcing a scared smile, “th-thanks, b-boss…”

“Once  you rest, we can  try and get you walking again alright Sansy?”

He gives an exhausted nod, eyes already beginning to close, “c’n...can i s-sleep then, boss…?” He asks in a weary voice. 

They nod, laying next to him. It doesn't take long at all for his eyes to close and his head to roll back. Chara chuckles at him, shifting to rest against his belly before falling asleep themselves.

 

_ “There's a good puppy…” _

_ Sans shivers at the cheerful, childish voice as he feels vines crawl over his shoulder bones, rubbing them soothingly as he makes a half-hearted effort to pull away. He groans softly at the gentle petting, going limp and opening his one good eye to look at Flowey’s face.  _

_ It's distorted in a sick, demonic grin, with blood dripping from his mouth and eyes, staining his leaves as well. Sans's eyes widen and he looks over past the flower's petals, choking on a scream at the sight of Chara's mangled, blood-soaked corpse in the background. _

_ “Looks like it's just you and me now, trash bag!”  _

_ Sans screams as the vines grow thorns and start digging into his bones, “no! no no no no Chara! boss i-i’m sorry! i’m sorry i’m  _ **_sorry_ ** _ please wake up ple _ ase RELOAD i should have told you i should have told-!”

“ _ Sans!”  _ Chara finally resorts to smacking him to bring him out of his nightmare, glaring grumpily at him, “Be quiet!”

“wh..?” Sans holds his face, gasping and looking around the dark living room, expression shifting from panic to confusion. “wh…”

“You woke me up! Stop shouting in your sleep.” They order grumpily.

“b...b-boss, F...F-Flowey, h-he...h-he came wh-while y..while y-you were s-sleeping, l-last night…” Sans blurts out, curling up and hugging his knees to his chest, trembling and avoiding their eyes, “i...i-i didn’t say a-anything, b-because...b-because h-he w-was b-being n-nice, and i...i-i d-didn’t want to g-get in trouble, b-because i d...i d-didn’t scream o-or a-anything, because i d-didn’t w-want him to l-leave, but i sh..i sh-should h-have t-told you i-i’m s-sorry i d-didn’t i-i-i’m s-s-s-so s-s-sorry..!” 

Sans  looks on in fear as Chara stares at him, expression neutral.However, after a minute  they smile. “Good  boy for telling me~.”They praise, scratching his skull.

Sans flinches, but then reluctantly relaxes at the scritching, giving a shaky sigh and resting his chin on the couch arm, “you...y-you’re not, mph...n-not mad..?”

“Not at all, I am very pleased that you told me.However...  **D O N  T  W A I T  N E X T  T I M E.** Got it?” They end with a grin.

Sans flinches and shrinks back, nodding rapidly, “y..y-yes boss..” He whimpers. 

“Good, now go back to sleep.”They say, standing up and heading for their room, “I'm going upstairs so I won't wake up to you screaming in my ear again.” They grumble, climbing the stairs and disappearing past Papyrus’s door. 

Sans winces, curling up a little tighter and tucking his hands into the sleeves of his hoodie, closing his eyes. They hadn't hurt him...he'd been positive they would be furious, but they hadn't hurt him…

Smiling slightly to himself, Sans sniffs and allows himself to drift off. 

 

Later that night, a vine opens the living  room window, and creeps in. It makes its way over to Sans, carefully wrapping him up.

“Howdy, ‘ _ friend’. _ ”

Sans's eyes snap open and he sits up, intending to yell for Chara, but a thick vine is stuffed into his mouth and all that comes out of him is a weak, strangled gurgling sound. 

“Funny, it’s not every day I see a dog turn into a  _ rat _ .” The flower seethes, carefully dragging Sans from the couch in the direction of the door.

Sans thrashes weakly, giving a weak cry as his body is squeezed tightly, and then going limp, panting and whimpering at the sharp ache in his belly. 

The  door is opened,  and he is pulled out into the cold. Sans shivers as he's dragged over the snow, far out into the woods where his screaming can't be heard.

His voice is freed when Flowey pulls the vine from his mouth, and Sans coughs at the scratchy feeling left in his throat, “F-Flowey let m-me go!”

“Of course!”  He  says in a  cheery  tone. “That's  what _ friends _ do  after all.” However, Flowey just  clings to him tighter and takes him in the direction of Waterfall.

“wh...wh-where are you taking me?!” Sans screams, thrashing again in spite of the pain it causes him, “s-stop!  _ stop it let me go _ !”

“Ok~” Flowey agrees. However, Sans remains in his grip.

Sans exhausts himself quickly and goes limp in the vines holding him, sniffing and whimpering as the flower continues to drag him off to wherever. What if Chara can't find him this time?

He chokes on a panicked scream as his ankle is grabbed and he's abruptly held upside down over a black chasm in Waterfall.

“Alright, pal! Ready for me to let go?”

“ _ no _ ! no! no no no no!” Sans cries out, arms fumbling to hold his gut still as Flowey bounces him up and down teasingly, “n-nh! s-stop, please, i-it hurts!”

“Are you sure? You seemed pretty  adamant  I let you go.  _ Friend. _ ” The flower cackles.

“y...y-you brought me o-out here just to k-kill me?!”

“So what if I  was? Chara’d  just  reset~”

“th..th-they’d RELOAD...i...i w-was with them wh-when they saved last…”

“How can you be sure?”  Flowey grins.

“s...s-stop this, j...j-j-just…” Sans sniffs, “...p-please just l-let me go b-back to th-them…”

“Why should I do whatever you ask?  _ You _ didn't do what  _ I  _  asked.”

“i h-had to tell...i  _ h-had to  _ i-i’m sorry-”

“They never even asked you to. “ Flowey sneers, wrapping a vine around Sans’s belly. “Look at how fat you have gotten. You must be getting too comfortable living like a  _ pet _ .”

Sans whimpers, gripping the vines and weakly trying to pull him off, “ngh! s-stop..” He whispers, feeling himself curling away in shame. 

Vines wrap his arms behind his back, while others poke and prod at his belly. “Who knew you could get so tubby? I'm curious to see if it can grow bigger.”

“gh!” Sans squirms, eyes squeezing shut tightly and shoulders abruptly going limp as his stomach is rubbed, “..mph..”

“I digress.” The flower says, throwing Sans to the ground. “You need to be punished for disobeying me.”

Sans cries out weakly as he hits the damp Waterfall dirt, rolling onto his back and holding his arms over his waist, “o-ow..”

Vines pick him up once more, and one dances around his ribs, reaching for his soul. Sans's breath hitches as he panics, fighting against the Flower's grip and scratching at the vines frantically, “n-no!”

The vines pull his arms around his back while the vine at his chest ducks under his shirts and takes hold of his soul.

Sans sobs, shaking his head, “n-no no no no no please  _ please _ i’m  _ sorry  _ i-i’m s-sorry!”

“You pathetic puppy. You actually think I care about apologies.” Flowey mocks,  thorns growing out of the vines, including the one around his soul.

Sans screams, thrashing and kicking out his legs as panic envelops him,  _ “no! no no no no nononono! let go! let go let go let go!”  _

The flower cackles at Sans’s reactions, and squeezes him and his soul. He chokes, fighting to breathe as his eyes widen. “p...lease…!”

The vines plunge him into the water. Sans's screams become gargled as he breathes in liquid, twisting and turning in agony as his vision slowly starts growing dark. 

Flowey pulls him out .  

“Chara is onto something with this near drowning thing~” He cackles.

Sans clings tightly to the vines holding him, not trying to pull them off but clutching them in desperation for some form of comfort. 

Once Sans  has caught his breath, Flowey dunks him  in  again. Eventually he runs out of energy to fight and just remains limp, resting his head on the flower's vines and trembling. 

Flowey takes him back to the house, the cold of snowdin freezing his soaked bones. Flowey drops him on the doorstep.”Better get back inside before Chara thinks you are trying to run away~”

Whimpering, Sans crawls back inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. “Char..Ch..ara…!” He cries, slumping to the floor by the couch, “Chara..!”

There is no answer.

He takes a minute to breathe before dragging himself up the stairs, wishing that it could actually be his brother waiting behind Papyrus’s door as he pushes it open. His blurry vision takes in the sight of the sleeping child before starting to go dark.

He collapses to the ground at the foot of their bed, curling up and passing out soon after.


	7. Walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara takes Sans out for a walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short but it's been awhile

“Sans~ wakey wakey~”

“n-no...no F-Flowey no  _ please _ !” Sans chokes out, clutching his soaked hoodie tighter to himself and coughing as he shivers.

“Woah, you’re soaked...” The child says as they observe his condition.

“F-Flowey t...h-he t-took...m-me…” 

“Can you walk?” They ask, ignoring his statement like it’s of no consequence.

“c...c-can i h-heal can i p-please heal i-i’m tired of b-being...c-can i p-please heal..”

“Fiiiine.” They say with a sigh, getting out of the bed.

Sans shuts his eyes, gasping and giving a quiet groan of relief as the fractures and breaks in his bones heal over, restoring his energy and easing away the pain gradually, until the weight in his middle is completely gone, “gh...h-hff..th-thank you..”

“Now go get yourself a change of clothes..I will permit you a shower. I will also dry your jacket.”

Getting to his feet, Sans sheds his damp hoodie, shivering, “th-thank you b-boss…”

Chara takes his jacket, and exits the room, en route to the dryer.They put it in, and get it running. They hear Sans enter the bathroom, so they make their way into the living room, idly watching the tapes of their murder run.

Since the bathroom has no windows, Sans feels safe enough in there for the duration of his shower, but when he steps out of the room he immediately rushes down the stairs and plops down by Chara's feet, eying every window anxiously. 

“How was your shower?”

He looks over his shoulder at them, “...it...i-it was...fine..?”

“...” They stay silent for a bit, staring at him expectantly.

“..b..boss…?” 

“Not even a show of gratitude.Unbelieveable.” They say with a huff. “Do you need to be shown  _ why _ you should be grateful for my kindness?”

“n...n-no, i…i-i’m sorry i just...i-i w...i-i w-was…” Sans fumbles for an excuse, “i..d...d-did you j..j-just w-want me t-to say th-thanks a-again…?”

“Are you really such an idiot?” They sneer, pulling him up by the collar.

Sans chokes, nodding his head, “y-yes boss...sorry...thank...th-thanks f..f-for letting me shower…”

“Only because I had to tell you to.” They snap, throwing him to the ground.

“i-i’m sorry, i w...i w-wasn’t thinking…”

“Clearly... Now, how about a walk to get those joints loosened hmm? It has been a while since you were active.”

“i….i d-didn’t really get m-much sleep l-last night, b-boss..”

“So?”

“....’m r-really tired…”

“Are you trying to skip out on the walk? How lazy of you.”

“i just….i n-need five m….”

Chara looks down at him when his pause becomes suspiciously long and sees that his eyes have closed.

They slap him. “Wake up! What would your brother say!?”

Sans jolts back, holding his face and shutting one eye. He barely holds back a sob. “i’m s-sorry...i didn’t m-mean to…”

Chara narrows their eyes at him, hesitating. “Fine, you may sleep. But right afterwards we are going on that walk, alright?”

Sans’s eyes close again and he nods in relief, slumping back against the couch, “th-thank you, boss, th-thank…………….”

“Yeah, whatever.” They murmur as they sit on the farther end of the couch. When they’re positive he’s truly asleep, however, they silently scoot back over and gently pet and scratch at his skull, giggling slightly at the soft purrs this gets them.

“Puppies don't purr silly.” They murmur.

Sans hums in his sleep, shifting and resting his head on their lap, stretching out on his back and sighing contentedly. 

They snicker, and continue petting him. He smiles in his sleep, leaning his head against their palm as they stroke the side of his face.

 

After an hour, they nudge him awake. “Sansy, time to wake uuuup~”

Sans’s eyes flicker open and he stares up at them, giving a small, nervous smile, twisting his fingers, “h...hey boss...th-thanks for l-lettin’ me sleep…” He actually didn’t have any nightmares or anything...that was nice.

“You’re welcome~” They say as they stand, stretching. “Come on, up up.”

Sans keeps his head down as he gets up, rubbing at his sore neck - it still aches from having been yanked around by his collar by Flowey,  “yes, b-boss..wh...wh-where we goin’...?”

“The garbage dumps, how does that sound?”

Sans looks up, smiling cautiously, “sounds like...like it could b-be fun…”

Chara gets up, and attaches a leash to his collar. “Ready?”

Sans nods, getting to his feet, “y-yeah…”

They lead him out the front door, taking a deep breath. “Fresher air is wonderful, isn’t it?”

“...h..h-had my fill of th-that last night…”

“Excuse me? Are you being ungrateful?” They interrogate, stopping to look at him.

Sans freezes in place, “n-no boss...i’m...i-i’m sorry, i’ll stop talking…”

“No  _ thank you _ ?” They seethe, pulling the leash roughly.

Sans trips forward and lands on his hands and knees in the snow, “r...r-right...th-thank you. th-thank you, i’m sorry…”

“Good.” They say, and they continue walking, dragging him along.

Sans struggles to get back to his feet, but continues to trip and hit the ground with his face, slowing them down. 

They whip around. “What are you doing?” They snap.

“t-tryin’ to g-get up…”

“Did I say you could?”

“y...y-you want me to crawl…?” 

“Obviously.”

Sans nods, swallowing tightly and bracing his hands on the ground, “o-okay...y-you just h-had to say so..”

They yank on the lead, and they begin walking quickly in the direction of Waterfall. Sans hurries after, choking and gasping as their grip on his collar tightens with each step further they take, the distance between them growing. 

They start walking him into potholes and rocks, laughing every time he stumbles. Sans tries to ignore the derisive sound, but it gets harder and harder each time he falls.

They yank him forward so he lands face first in a deep mud puddle. 

Sans coughs and spits out the gritty sludge as he pushes himself up to his arms, their laughter ringing loudly throughout the echoing chasms of Waterfall. He shakily wipes the mud from his face, sniffing and trembling. 

Chara pulls tightly on the leash. “Hurry up lazy bones, I want to get to the garbage dump  _ today _ !” They mock with a smirk.

“b...b-boss did i d...do s-something w-wrong…?”

“You are going too slow. Crawl faster.” They say as they tug the leash again, snickering as he falls.

Sans coughs out more mud, shutting his eyes and ducking his head as a sob escapes him in spite of his efforts to stay strong. 

“Come on Sansy, keep moving~”

Keeping his head down, Sans slowly crawls forward again, hesitantly nudging their leg gently with his head.

“Good boy~”

Okay. Okay that was all he needed, just a little positive affection. He can do this. He can do it.

Sans takes in a deep breath and shifts his hands and knees back under himself, readying himself to move forward again. 

They start jogging, and his face hits the rock floor again.

“Come on Sansy, we are almost there, you can do it puppy you can do it!”

“p-please, p-please boss, j...j-just a b-bit slower i w...i w-wanna do this but i  _ c-can’t  _ i-i’m not s-strong enough…”

“Sure you are Sansy!” They cheer. “You just gotta have some determination.”

Sans shuts his eyes, “i d-don’t have a-any left…”

They yank up the collar and he is forced to be face to face with them. They maintain their grin, but their eyes betray anger. “I said, you can do it.” They say through their teeth.

Sans sobs, “y-you know i c-can’t..” 

Chara reaches for his chest, and takes out his SOUL. Sans whimpers, biting at his knuckles and shaking his head, unintelligible pleas for MERCY coming out as fumbled whispers.

They start gently rubbing his SOUL, sending encouraging vibes into it. Sans relaxes against his will, sitting back on his knees and letting out a slow breath, his eyes half closing.

“You can do it can't you puppy?”

_ ‘no i can't i can't stop hypnotizing me like this i don't want to believe in myself it's fucking _ delusional _ …: _

In spite of his internal crying, he nods and turns to look up at them, “yes boss.”

“Good boy. Ready to keep going?”

“yes boss.”

Chara releases his SOUL and places it back into his chest, grinning. Sans shuts his eyes and grunts, rubbing at his sternum and wincing, shifting back to his hands and knees, resigning himself to a ‘walk’ full of him getting his bones roughly dragged over rock and mud.

They make it to the rock fall ‘puzzle’, and Chara pulls Sans across.

*The boulder has conflicted feelings about knocking a child off of a cliff

They ignore his weak whimpers of protest, dragging him into the shallow water. He tries to stay upright, but the current easily sweeps him off his hands and knees, dragging him towards the cliffs. When he tries to call out to them he gets a mouthful of water, only managing a garbled scream. They glance just in time to see one of the many falling boulders solidly smack into him, and he disappears over the waterfall’s edge.

Their heart lurches in panic, “Sans!”

Then the leash goes taut, pulling them forward, forcing them over as well.

*THE BOULDER IS OVER ITS CONFLICTED FEELINGS

Next thing they know they are lying on their back on the wooden path below the ‘puzzle’. They groan as they sit up, wincing as they try their wrist. Not broken but most likely sprained.

They look around for Sans. But the only evidence they have of his fall is the hole left behind in the broken wooden panels of the boardwalk.

“Sans!?”

“Golly, looks like Sans sure has hit ‘rock bottom’ eh Chara?”

Chara stiffens. “What did you do?”

Flowey laughs, resting his head on Chara's shoulder, “What did  _ I  _ do? You're the one that led the crawling puppy through Undyne’s stupid boulder fall ‘puzzle’. What did you think he was gonna be able to do, Chara? Jump?”

Chara recoils from him. When was the last time they saved? Not too long... “Why are you here?”

“This is a good opportunity for a little friendly competition, Chara, don't you think?”

Chara narrows their eyes. “Explain.”

“Whoever finds Sans first gets to play with him for the day!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Chara gonna take the deal?


	8. MINE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Sans is MINE Sans is MINE Sans is MINE Sans is MINE..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile and last ch was so short so HERE have some h eart break

“What’s stopping you from just travelling through the dirt? As far as I know you have already found him.”

“You can have a head start!” Flowey offers, “Ten minutes?”

Chara narrows their eyes suspiciously. “Any other rules or restrictions?”

“Hmm...well if I find him first it's only fair I should make the first Fracture!”

“No. He is mine.”

“Better get running then!” Flowey gives Chara a teasing push with his vines, winking and sticking out his tongue. “You want a hint as to where the trash bag is? It's a family reunion!” He laughs at his own joke, coiling back up into the ground and giggling. 

Chara thinks for a minute, before dashing off, making their way to the area where the little bird would be, and they grit their teeth, jumping across. They land painfully on their already sore wrist, but they keep going, cursing under their breath.

 

“Sannsss~” 

Sans forces open his eyes, seeing a hazy view of a garbage pile and a waterfall. “b-boss..?”

“Sannss?” 

He pushes himself up from onto one elbow, squinting around. His eyes widen as he sees a mass of writhing vines and branches crawling down from where he fell. Just barely he chokes back a scared cry, inching himself off of the garbage pile and into the water as quietly as possible, wincing and opening his mouth in a silent cry of pain. It feels like his leg might be broken. 

 

Chara nearly stumbles as the rush into the dirty water of the garbage dump. “Sans!” They call out, wading through the water.

 

“I know you're here, trash puppy.” Flowey snarls, and then giggles, stretching out his vines to feel for any movement, “I’ll find you eventually! And then I'll get to play with you aaallll day~”

Sans bites down a whimper as he sees leafy tendrils crawling across the wall next to him, holding his breath.

“You know what the first thing I'm gonna do is?” Flowey called out, pushing over a pile of garbage and sounding closer and closer, “I'm gonna pull out that pathetic little SOUL of yours..”

Sans tenses as the flower goes silent. Then from right next to him, “..and I'm gonna  _ Fracture _ it.”

Sans jumps as coils lash forward and grab him around the waist, lifting him into the air. Sans screams, in terror and pain.  _ “Chara! Chara s-save me-!”  _

He's choked into silence by a vine forcing itself between his teeth. 

A knife embeds itself into Flowey’s stem, taking out over half his accumulated hp.

Flowey spits and screams, drawing Sans back, holding him tight enough to crack several ribs. Sans cries out, sobbing and trying to hold as still as possible. 

“Ooh, Chara, you've always been a sore loser!” Flowey sneers, reaching under Sans’s shirt and drawing out his SOUL.

“You said I had ten minutes.  Now let him go before I dust you.” Chara growls.

Flowey instead pins them back to the wall by their wrists, prying the knife from their hand, “Nah. I'll make sure you have a good view though!” Flowey assured, wrapping another vine around Sans’s SOUL and starting to squeeze.

Chara kicks and struggles, before closing their eyes and focusing on reloading.

“Reloading, Chara? Guess I'll just have to hurry.” Flowey sighs, and Sans starts screaming as his SOUL starts to splinter into a Fracture.

Chara growls, and opens their eyes at the save point at the edge of Snowdin,  Sans still on the leash. They immediately pull out his soul, hoping they reloaded in time.

“g-gh...b-boss…?”

They look over his soul, and is relieved to find no fracture. They go to put his soul back, but a vine wraps around their wrist, pulling them away, and at the same time another grabbing Sans’s soul.

“Gah! Let go of me!” Chara yells, pulling against the vine and digging their nails into it.

“Resetting is very  _ rude _ , Chara!”

“It was never a rule.” Chara seethes, taking out a knife and cutting through the vine.

Sans screams as his SOUL is squeezed, “n-no!”

“Better  _ knock that off,  _ Chara!”

Chara pauses, gritting their teeth, and clenching their fists.“Are you really so jealous that you’d take what's mine?”

Flowey laughs, “Oh I'll give it back, Chara!” He says in a sweet voice, smirking at Sans, “I just think  _ I _ should get  _ my  _ revenge on Sans too. He's caused me a lot of trouble in the past, haven't ya, trash puppy?” 

Vines wrap around Sans’s head and force him to nod. 

“Why can't you entertain yourself? Like you did before I fell.”

“Say goodbye to the last of whole-SOULed Sans.” Flowey smiles, listening with an ever-widening grin to Sans’s screaming. “You worthless trash bag.” He hisses in n the skeleton’s ear, “Do you think anybody is gonna miss you when you're gone? Do you think anybody will  _ care _ ? This is all for nothing you stupid puppy...though I  _ guess _ by ridding yourself from everybody's lives you're doing  _ something  _ right. For  _ once _ .”

Sans flinches with each biting word, gradually struggling less and less.

“Stop!”Chara shouts, before glaring at the half cut vine around their wrist at their outburst.

“Why should I? It's just a Fracture, Chara! There's plenty left for you!”

“Did I not make it clear? He. Is. Mine!” They snap, wrenching free of the vine.

“Not for much longer!” Flowey cackles, vines completely encasing Sans’s SOUL, “If I Fracture him first then I get to be his Breaker! He'll be more scared of me than he  _ ever _ will of you!”

Chara glares. “I do all the work and you steal from me. You are more lazy than he is. Cowardly too.”

Flowey shrugged his vines, smirking, “I play smarter not harder, Chara.”

Chara doesn’t reply, glaring at him and seething, clutching their knife tighter, trying to come up  with a plan.

“No begging, Sansy? No pleading for me to let the universe carry the full weight of your lazy SOUL?” Flowey jeers, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the water nearby, forcing his head under, “You useless  _ trash bag _ !”

Chara closes their eyes. It's the only thing they have, and they are going to use it. 

When they open their eyes, they are back at the save point. “Stand up Sans.” They order.

Sans struggles to obey, managing to at least get to his knees before vines wrap around him again and pull him away, “gh! b-boss h-help me!” He begs. 

Chara grabs his arm, and cuts the vines away with their knife.

Flowey’s vines wrap around Chara’s wrists and yank them back, seizing Sans’s SOUL again, “Enough  _ stalling _ , Chara!” Flowey hisses, snarling at his sibling, “Do you really care  _ that much  _ about this sad puppy?

Chara growls, fighting against the vines. “He is  _ my _ toy. I break him when  _ I _ want to. Not because you want to steal him from me!” They close their eyes, preparing to reload again.

“One last chance, Chara - I won’t Fracture him if you beg me not to.” Flowey says, tickling the side of Chara’s face with a leaf to get them to open their eyes. He smirks, squeezing Sans’s body tightly and forcing out scared, pained whimpers, “After all those times you made  _ me  _ beg you not to break  _ my  _ toys, it’s only fair, don’t you think?”

Chara pulls harder at the vines, keeping their teeth clenched. They look at Sans. He locks eyes with them briefly before turning his head away, chin trembling. He doesn’t want to Fracture, but holy fuck is he going to suffer so much worse if Chara thinks for a moment that he’s silently pleading with them to  _ beg  _ for his useless SOUL. Of all things...no. They’ll be grumpy about it but in the end what do  _ they  _ care about his stupid SOUL?

They sigh, rolling their eyes before smiling nicely, looking at Flowey with wide eyes. The look they would give him whenever they wanted something from him. “Pretty please Asri? I'll be your best friend~” They barely resist the urge to smirk.

Flowey snorts, “You’re not even trying!”

“Please may I have my toy back? I promise I won't tell mom~” They continue, their eyes mocking him.

Flowey grinds his teeth and strikes them across the face, “ _ Fine _ , Chara. Be that way!” 

The vines around the little grey heart tighten and Sans  _ screams _ as he can feel the beginning of a Fracture, the start of a break in his SOUL, and it  _ hurts  _ oh god it hurts and he can’t stop screaming no matter how hard he tries.

“Stop! Stop please, please give him back. Please don't break him. I  _ beg _ you.” They practically have to spit the word out, and they turn their glare to the ground.

There’s an odd amount of silence, broken only by Sans’s choked sobbing. When the shocked look fades from Flowey’s face, it’s replaced with a smirk, and he shrugs his vines, carelessly dropping Sans to the ground and tossing his SOUL over to Chara, “Alright!”

They catch his soul. “You have five seconds to leave before I dust you.” They growl, glaring at Flowey.

The flower just giggles, winking at them before popping back under the soil, taking his vines with him. 

Sans lets out the breath he's been holding, wheezing and crawling up to Chara on his hands and knees, stopping in front of their feet, “b-boss thank you  _ th-thank  _ you b-boss thank y-you-”

“Shut. Up.” They growl, picking him up roughly by the collar and shoving his soul back in his chest.

At their tone Sans snaps his mouth shut, holding his hands over his chest and shrinking into himself. They’re  mad...they’re mad oh  _ fuck _ ...

“You are so fucking  _ helpless _ ! _ ” _ They scream as they throw him down.

He hits the dirt roughly, landing on a previously made crack in his skull and crying out, holding it and instinctively trying to heal the break, only to cause his eye to flare up in burning pain. “i-i’m sorry!”

“You are going to be. Get up, on your hands and knees.” They order.

“y-yes boss..” Sans obeys, keeping his head down and whispering for MERCY under his breath.

“To the garbage dump, and don't mess it up this time!”

“y-yes boss..” 

 

They get to the rock fall, and they take him by the collar, leading him past the last rock before dropping him back into the water. Sans spits out water as he pushes himself back to his hands and knees, dragging himself forward towards shore with shaking arms. “th-thank you..”

“Where are you going?” They ask.

“f..f-following..you…?”

“Did I say you could leave the water?”

Sans pauses and then shifts backwards so he’s back up to his elbows in the rushing cold water, shaking his head, “...n-no boss…”

They sit on their knees on the edge of the shore, and they grab his collar, before shoving and holding his head underwater. Sans cries out, clawing at the rocky ledge and at their wrist, trying to pull himself up as his chest starts convulsing.

Just when he thinks he is going to faint Chara pulls his head from the water, and gives him time to breathe. Sans spits out water, wheezing and forcing his good eye open to search their face, “p-please..!”

They just give him a livid glare and shove him back under.

Sans gasps, his head hanging so low it’s nearly touching the water as he's pulled back up, _“b-boss..!”_ He pauses to cough some more, his entire body shaking like a leaf, _“p-p-plea-ase!”_

“‘Please’ what, Sansy?”

“p-please tell m-me what i d-did wrong, k-kid…”

“Don't pretend like you don't know.” They seethe as they dunk him in again.

What the fuck is he supposed to say?! He’s dragged out again, _“i-i’m s-sorry b-boss! i-i’m s-sorry!”_

_ “ _ Of course you're sorry, you're being punished.” They say as they push him in, standing up.

Sans is wheezing as he lifts his head out of the water. He doesn’t want to do it. He doesn’t want to say it he doesn’t want...but it isn’t about what he wants.  “hh-hg...hf...m-m..”  He gags, at the water in his throat and at himself,  “...m-master please..” He whimpers in the most pathetic voice he can muster, shivering and quietly panting.

“Please what?” They snap.

“p-p-please forg-give m-me..”

“Why should I?”

“M-MERCY, Ch-Chara,  _ p-please _ -!”

They kneel down and dunk him back under. Sans gives up, shoulders going slack to indicate this as he stops struggling. What's the point...what's the point of fighting at all? 

“g _ hgk _ -!” Sans claws weakly at his chest as he feels his SOUL shudder threateningly. 

They pull him up. Sans whimpers, avoiding their eyes. 

Chara holds him by the collar for a minute, before tossing him back in. “You are so damn pathetic!”

“i kn-know...i kn-know, i-i’m s-sorry…”

“No you're not! If you were you would stop being so goddamn useless and helpless!”

“wh-what sh-should i h-have done..?”

“Something! Anything!” They yell, holding him under again.

Sans stays limp as he's pulled out this time, making no effort to hold himself out of the water anymore. “y-you t-taught me not to f-fight…”

“Not to fight  _ me _ you moron!” They take out his soul. “I am beginning to think you still  have loyalty to him.”

Sans flinches, shaking his head, “he w-would h-have F-Fractured me if i f-fought he w-would have-”

“You let him take you in the first place by  falling down the falls!”

“i thought you wanted me to fall!” Sans suddenly screams, “why else would y-you have m-made me crawl through th-that trap?!”

They slap him. “It’s not my fault you can't keep up. And don’t yell at me!”

“wh-why would you even care if h-he broke me?!”

“Because you are  _ mine _  to break! Not his!” They yell as they start clenching their fist around his soul.

Sans cries out in pain, clutching his chest and shutting his eyes tightly. 

“If you weren't a complete idiot, you would know that!” They say, crushing it tighter still, “I  **_hate you_ ** !”

**_CRACK_ **

Sans’s jaw parts in a silent scream and his eyes widen, eyelight vanishing, “k-kff…” He braces his other hand over his chest, gasping and choking, “b..oss…?”

“It would do you well to learn that.” They sneer as they shove his soul back into his chest. “Now follow closely, we have already been delayed enough.” They once again start walking quickly.

Sans scrambles after them, breath hitching as he sobs quietly. Even just moving hurts, now, with a Fractured SOUL in his chest. But he keeps up. He  _ keeps up _ , because he's terrified of what will happen if he doesn't.

 

They finally arrive at the dump and Sans collapses face first into the dirty water, the filthy liquid soaking into his clothes. “h-hff...hf-hf...hh...ngh...hff…”

“There, now was that so hard?~” They say mockingly. “Now help me look around for stuff.” They begin to search through the piles.

Sans gets to his feet, staying hunched over as he cautiously moves forward, sniffing and muffling his sobs in the sleeve of his dirty sweater as he runs his blurry gaze over the piles of junk, trying to make as little noise as possible. 

“Stay nearby, and shout if you find trouble. Also, let me know if you find anything.” They say before walking off to another trash pile.

“y-yes..y-yes b-boss..” Sans whimpers. “wh-whatever you s-say…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heart break  
> Get it? ??


	9. Tricks and Treats

Sans allows himself just a moment to catch his breath while Chara’s back is turned, although he shakes himself into even more of a nervous wreck by risking that. Eventually he gets himself to get off the ground, not daring to sit up as he combs through the mountains of garbage. There’s nothing but newspapers and torn up clothing scraps, with bits and pieces of metal scrap. He moves on, digging at a pile of what looks like mostly rusty pieces of bikes and tools.

Sans pauses when he finds an ice pick. He looks at it, testing the sharpness of it with his fingertip. After glancing over his shoulder at Chara, he slowly puts it to his wrist, wincing and pushing until a small piece of bone chips off. He bites his teeth to keep from crying out at the sharp pain it causes, rubbing at the fresh wound and wincing at the burning ache it causes. His eyes close and he slacks a bit, taking in a staggered breath and slowly letting it out. 

That felt...bad. But...in a way...he enjoys the idea having some control over the punishment that he deserves for fucking up. Sure Chara dishes out more enough pain, but sometimes whenever he remembers how stupid he is, he wishes they were there to remind him. Having this...being able to hurt himself whenever that bout of self-loathing bubbles up, seems like it will be a good release.

Silently and carefully, he tucks it away in a hidden pocket on the inside of his jacket. He then continues to search.

Chara idly searches through the piles of junk. Thinking. They notice they do a lot of that now that they have stopped resetting and that they are focusing on a longer term timeline. They notice their fondness for their toy, and how it wasn’t supposed to happen. They are far from bored. This is the most interesting thing since Frisk’s first True Reset. They can’t help but think why? Frustration builds as they have no way to find the answer. They retaliate by pushing over one of the piles, watching it collapse.

Sans winces at the noise, going back to searching for things of any sort of interest, hoping to be able to appease them should they suddenly demand him to produce something. For a while he doesn't find much, until he comes across something lying on a pile of soaked and rotting hay. Curious, he picks it up and looks at it. It appears to have some kind of wiring. Perhaps he can put this back together. He quickly gets up to show Chara.

  
  


“A stick?” Chara says dubiously at Sans’s fascination with it.

“it’s some kinda...electric device. it's got wiring, see?”  He turns it so Chara can look. 

“Ooo, what do you think it does? Do you think you could get it to work?”

Sans nods without hesitation,  “yeah. Alphys...probably has some tools that i can use to fix it.” 

“We should go!” Chara says, grabbing his hand and heading for Hotland.

Sans stumbles after,  “...should i, uh…?” He glances at the ground. 

“Hmm?” They ask, stopping and turning around to face him.

“..........did you want me to crawl again?”  He asks tiredly, unconsciously holding tighter to Chara's hand. 

“ _ Maybe _ on the way back.” They say it as if he had just asked for ice cream. At this point he might as well have.

Sans sighs and says nothing further, jogging to keep up with them as they head for Hotland. 

When they reach the lab, Chara lets go of Sans’s hand. “So, how do you think it’ll work when it's done?”

Sans scratches at his skull nervously as he clears off workspace on one of Alphys's stations,  “hard to say...it might not end up being something all that interestin’, kid.”

They shrug, and watch him as he works, asking about various tools and what he is doing. They really are very curious. Sans chuckles once or twice at their enthusiasm, answering their many questions patiently and as clearly as he can. The scientist part of him is all too glad to take control for a bit - he's curious as well.

Eventually he finishes it, clicking the last piece into place and balancing it on his hand.  “well. ta-da.”

“Well, what does it do?”

Sans gestures to a button on the side and hands it over,  “still don't know. you do the honors.”

Chara grabs it eagerly and presses the button, dropping it in surprise at the crackling noise it makes and the electricity at the tip. Sans jumps back a bit, also startled. He had been expecting some sort of noise, just taking into consideration how the thing was built to channel so much energy. Clearly he still hadn’t been prepared.

“geez...guess you’ll wanna be careful with that thing, huh Boss?”

They pick it up again, inspecting it. “What is it supposed to be for?”

Sans shrugs and shakes his head,  “you’d know more than i would. it’s a human thing.” 

“Just because I’m human, doesn't mean I know what everything is. Maybe if we look in the same spot you found it we can figure it out?”

“maybe..”  He's not anxious to go back. He tilts his head, trying to think of where he saw that before. On the surface, on one of Frisk's school field trips to a farm.  “...oh. it's a cattle prod.” He says suddenly.

“What’s a-” They are cut off as Frisk fills them in. Then they smirk, and press the button, holding it down. “Ohh~” They point it at Sans.

Sans takes a step back,  “uh..”

They lunge forward and jab Sans with it, a smirk on their face. He tenses up and falls to his seat, giving a yelp of pain and grabbing the arm where they’d burnt him. He looks up, breathing starting to get faster.

“Fascinating.” They say, turning it off and placing it in their inventory. “Come on, let’s head back to the garbage piles.”

Sans pushes up his sleeves and stares at the slight scorch on his bone as he follows. It’s just slightly shaded with black, but it still burns. What the hell has he just done...

“Well, we did say you would crawl on your way back, so come on, get down.”

Sans unintentionally groans as he sinks back to his knees, shutting his eyes. Really, can’t this kid just give him a break?

 

Once they were back at the garbage dump, Chara once again began searching through the piles. Sans finds the most comfortable pile of crap and sits down, leaning back and putting his hands in his pockets. He can feel the pick through the material, and he’s tempted to bring it out now, to punish himself for being so stupid as to equip Chara with a new torture weapon. But it’s far too risky with them being this close. He’ll have to wait until he’s alone.

Sighing, he pulls up a book he finds at his side and shakes it out a bit, turning through the damp, smelly pages.  “...vampires, huh?” He chuckles. “this ought’a be good..”

“Sansy! Look what else I found!”

Sans lifts his eye,  “what is it, boss?”

“Come see~”

Sighing, Sans tosses the book (seemed like crap anyway) and carefully walks over to Chara, grimacing at the smell of his clothes. These are going to need a wash, if they’re salvageable at all.  “whatcha got, boss?”

Chara holds up a bag of dog treats. “Surely you would like some of these on occasion?”

Sans squints at the bag, mostly confused,  “...uhh...what are those?”

“Dog treats obviously. Now I can properly reward you when you do good~” Chara snickers and inserts it into their inventory.

“..uh, y-yeah...that’s uh...real..clever.”  Sans shakes his head and turns away. So they’d watch him choke down tasteless grits from time to time. Whatever. He’s been through far worse at this point. 

“Well, I'm getting hungry, let’s head back home.”

Sans shrugs, stepping after them and trying not to breathe in too deeply,  “mind if i do some laundry when we get home, boss?”

“I suppose.” 

 

When they arrive at the house, they shed out of their sweater, revealing a plain white undershirt, and hand it to Sans. “Here, wash this as well, it smells worse than trash..”

“gotcha.” Sans takes the shirt and heads up to his room, carefully hiding away the ice pick and changing into a different outfit - mainly a new pair of shorts and a long-sleeved white and blue sweater. He won’t have his jacket until it’s clean and he doesn’t want Chara seeing anything that might end up on his wrists.

He breathes out, embracing the urge to punish himself now and chipping out a larger chunk of bone from his left arm. Sans breathes out sharply, taking the pick and hiding it inside one of the drawers. Trying to ignore the pain, he takes the ball of filthy laundry and carries it to the washroom. 

Chara starts making dinner in the kitchen while waiting for the clothes to finish. Sans in the meantime comes downstairs and plops himself on the couch to wait for the clothes to finish. He scratches at the scrape in his skull that he gained by smacking his head against one of the many stones Chara dragged him through. He winces, rubbing his thumb over it carefully. That would probably heal, right?

“Dinner will be done in a few minutes.” Chara calls out from the kitchen.

“‘kay boss.” Sans responds tiredly, slouching back on the couch and pulling the long sleeves of his sweater over his hands. He always like to wear plus sized clothing for some reason - it was just a lot comfier he guessed.

Once dinner is finished, they plate the food and set the table.

“Sansy, dinner.”

He gets up and takes his usual seat at the table,  “looks great, boss.” He says absently.

“Eat it up and then you can get a treat~”

“...i’m, uh, pretty sure those things are rotten, boss..”

“ Treats are  _ always _ good Sansy, don't be silly.”

He sighs quietly,  “whatever you say, boss.” Sans starts eating the noodles put in front of him. He has to force himself to eat at this point, which is alarmingly unusual for him. Even with Pap’s burnt dinners he never had trouble with finishing a meal.

_ ‘...probably just too many times being poisoned.’  _ He reasons to himself.

“You are not leaving the table until you finish your dinner Sansy~”

“sorry boss. workin’ on it.”  Sans mumbles in reply, putting another bite in his mouth.

Chara finishes their plate before Sans is even halfway done with his. They put their dish away. Sans shuts his blind eye as it acts up again, suppressing a pained grunt and trying to hurry up with his portion. The stupid thing hasn’t stopped stinging since he used the Gaster Blaster to save the stupid kid that couldn’t even  _ die _ …

“...boss...can i ask you somethin’?”

“Ask away~”

“...what...what would you have done if i’d died back there? when i got knocked off the falls..what if i’d fallen and died, and...since it wasn't on purpose...what...what would you do?” 

“Probably reload. Luckily for you, I still find you entertaining.”

Sans lets out a short breath, looking up with wide eyes,  “really?”

“However, don’t go dying willy nilly either, otherwise I’d  _ have _ to reset.”

He shakes his head,  “no, no just...makin’ sure if somethin’ happened that...wasn't planned..”

“I see. Well hurry up and eat your food. You are taking forever. Any longer and I’ll have to force feed you.”

That idea is unpleasant enough to spur Sans into finishing up in the next few bites. He nudges his chair away from the table, getting up and taking his dishes to the kitchen.

Chara takes out the bag of dog treats and waits for Sans return. Sans idly wanders back to the living room, looking lost in thought. 

“Sans, sit.” Chara orders as they hold up a dog treat. They were grinning in anticipation.

His eye twitches, but he sits down on the couch. He'd been planning on that anyway. Whatever. 

“On the floor. Sit on the floor.”

Sans scoots forward off the couch seat and plops to the floor. 

“Good boy~” Chara holds out the. “treat” expectantly. Sighing, Sans reaches out his hand for it. They jerk it from his reach. “Ah ah ah~ mouth.”

Sans turns his eyes away, leaning forward and opening up. Chara puts the “treat” into his mouth. It tastes much worse than it looks. He immediately spits it out, coughing and grimacing. 

“Eat it.” Chara orders, taking the cattle prod out of their inventory as a warning.

“Ch-Chara it's  _ rotten..” _

They push the button on the cattle prod and zap him with it. “Eat. It.”

He jolts back, shaking for a moment as the currents died out, leaving him breathless and shaking,  “o-okay okay…” He sits up, holding an arm over his stomach and picking the ‘treat’ up off of the floor. Shutting his eyes, he forces it into his mouth and swallows before he can dwell too much on the taste. Sans leans forward as he gags, dry heaving a bit before sitting back against the couch and coughing. 

Chara takes another “treat” from the bag. “Roll over.”

Curling his fingers into weak fists, Sans moves forward and flops down before rolling onto his back in the most apathetic way possible. 

“Good boy Sansy~” They say, holding out the “treat”.

He shudders but shuts his eyes and opens his mouth again, choking down the essential poison and coughing. 

“Beg.” They order simply, holding another one out.

Sans gets onto his knees, fighting back stressed tears,  “b-boss p-please...i-i’ve h-had a r-really long day…” He isn’t sure how much more of this he can take before breaking down.

“Beg for the treat.” They clarify, shaking it insistently.

He reaches up and wipes away the drop of salty liquid under his eye,  “...can i please have the treat..” He mumbles.

“Come on Sansy, you sound like you don’t want it at all.” They press the button on the cattle prod warningly.

The skeleton winces and lets his head drop further, his hands fidgeting in his lap. How much longer can he keep pushing himself like this? His mental stamina has always been poor to begin with, and he feels like he is at the end of his rope.

At least he only has to watch the floor,  “....c-can...c-can i please h-have a treat, boss? i’ve...i p-promise i-i’ve been good…” 

Chara grins. “There you go~, now open your mouth~”

This was the easiest part of that whole act. Sans lifts up his head just enough, keeping his eyes on the floor and trying to breathe in slow to calm the painful pressure in his chest that wants him to break down sobbing.

Chara puts the “treat” into his mouth. Sans has to cover it to keep from spitting it out, and he gives a dry heave as he finally forces it down. He can't vomit, of course. The toxic ‘food’ has already been absorbed.

“Now,  _ Speak _ !”

“wh-why are you doing this to m-me..?”

“‘Cause its fun~, now speak like a dog, bark!”

He gives a sob,  “Ch-Chara  _ please..!” _

They zap him with the cattle prod. “Come on, Sansy, bark like a little puppy.”

Sans puts his head to the ground, his cry of pain from the prod sounding choked,  “a-anything e-else a-anything e-else  _ please _ -!”

“Obey!” They zap him for a longer period of time.

Sans jolts violently and falls back, one arm catching him from falling by getting caught between the sofa pillows. He shuts his eyes, and gives a pathetic little yelp.

“Come on Sansy, bark for me~”

He gives a slightly louder noise that sounds somewhat similar, and hopes it’s enough.

“More, come on keep going Sansy~” Chara says, giggling gleefully.

Sans covers his head with his arms, stammering out a proper bark that tastes vile coming out from his mouth.

“One more time~”

He can barely repeat the noise through his sobbing, curling up and trying to hide in himself. Why why why why why  _ why why why did they have to do this?! _

“Aww, you can do better than that~” Chara taunts, allowing the cattle prod to come threateningly back to life.

_“Ch-Chara please! please j-just stop it!”_ Why does he bother with pleading anymore? 

Predictably they hit him again with the cattle prod. “Bark for me. Give it your best!”

He chokes out the sound again, louder but shakier. He just wants to die he wants to be  _ dead _ he wants for none of this to exist...

“Good boy~” They grin, holding out the “treat”.

Sans reaches out and takes it in his hand, but his arm drops so it’s only being held loosely in his fingers, dangling above the ground as the skeleton presses his forehead into his knees.

Chara shocks him and rips the “treat” from his hand. “From the mouth!”

He slowly lifts his head so his chin is just visible. He doesn’t want to look at them.

They shove it in his mouth, then put the treats and the cattle prod back in their inventory. Then they gently pet his head. “Good boy~”

“....i wanna go to my room..” He whimpers.

“Fine, go ahead, I suppose it’s bedtime anyway.”

Sans gets up on shaking feet, slinking away up the stairs. When he wakes up this will all just be a nightmare. This time he’s sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the end of the series  
> Just this stage


End file.
